Why I Respect President Aquino

There is no perfect president. Never has been one, never will be one. We can cite the presidents who are generally held in high regard, and those held in low regard.

How do you look at President Aguinaldo, I wonder? He deserves credit for organizing the Philippines as a nation, yet he set the standard for self-serving leadership. Even brutal.

Most Americans hold George Washington and Thomas Jefferson in the highest regard. But don’t dig too deeply into their personal lives or you will find some mighty fine flaws.

That crook U.S. President Nixon is held in high regard for his international dealings with China. The ineffectual “Jimmah” Carter did more after leaving office than he did in office. Habitat for Humanity ring a bell? Ronald Reagan grew in stature as the impacts of his deeds in office rolled through history. The much admired and assassinated JFK was a lustful adulterer. Bill Clinton was a brilliant politician and president who got his mitt in a wringer, so to speak.

How do we weigh President Aquino? How will history judge him?

The critics abound and are undermining his popularity polls. As I mentioned in a recent blog, the Philippines represents a “culture of criticism”. Any flaw in specific act is leveraged to represent a flaw in the entire effort. Or the entire person. President Aquino, an active president, is taking his shots.

Who can live up to that standard in a job as enormously complex as the presidency?

I rather think we should cut any president a little slack. Do you know that term?

“Cut some slack” This phrase is used to request or suggest leniency. To go easy on someone, or to be forgiving.

“Cut him some slack, he’s had a tough day”

“Cut me some slack while I’m learning”

To go easy. To be forgiving. Or to recognize that being relentlessly critical fosters a tear-down mentality. It undermines the nation if the leadership is weakened by criticism that distorts the entire picture.

What is it with this incessant need that Filipinos have – and I suppose we all have to some extent – to win a personal argument and sacrifice a nation in the doing? Critics like to use the term “apologist” for those supporting the President, as if his backers should be ashamed of their view. That is bizarre to me, and anyone who uses the term becomes instantly suspect to me. It is sneaky name-calling and has nothing to do with issues.

And for sure, for sure, I’m not saying that one should hold back from criticizing acts that warrant criticism. I’m saying cut some slack about judging an entire picture – or person – on the basis of one paint stroke.

I respect President Aquino for many reasons, one of which is that he has not bowed to agenda-bound, manipulative criticism. Oh, you can see he gets nettled sometimes. But his most recent observation that critics deserve to be ignored (my paraphrase) is a good one.

Take these critics for example:

Organizations like Bayan Muna simply do not recognize good deeds unless they smack of 1950’s anti-capitalist rhetoric and total destruction of wealth-building mechanisms. They sharpshoot at every opportunity and they are loud out of proportion to their authority.

The mayor of Tacloban. My son would call him a “Whimpy Doodle”. If you listen to that mayor, he is accountable for exactly nothing that went wrong in his city during and after Typhoon Yolanda.

And the newspapers, which intoxicate themselves by thinking that shallow sensationalism is a profound finding and any slander is worth printing.

And the plunderers and crooks who are intent upon making the accuser the guilty party. They are another bunch that knows no accountability. Nor shame.

Those critics are worth ignoring.

I respect President Aquino because he has stuck to a responsible path for four years. He has been serious and sincere and honest.

He has held to a path of integrity.

He demands a lot of others. I respect him for that. He demands a lot from his cabinet, from his staff, from those who serve the public, and from you and me. And you know what, most of the time:

It is not he who fails us.It is we who fail him.

Is our need for personal justification more important than the Philippines? Have we lost touch with the meaning of sacrifice? I’m not talking about throwing our bodies on a grenade, just allowing others some wiggle room if they take a different decision than we would.

Is that so hard?

I respect President Aquino because he holds his position if he believes it is right. He does not equivocate or slip-slide or flip-flop. If a sultan deserves a swat, he delivers. If the Taiwan President is shrill and intent upon leading his nation to riot, President Aquino remains calm. If a Vice President tries to upstage him, he calls him aside out of public view and gets him back into line rather than playing politics. If China plays its one-way criticism cards, he flips them back, rationally and in the frame of a nation with peace in its Constitution but firmness in its adherence to a law-based resolution of disputes.

Gloria Arroyo: He jailed her immediately. No pardon. But let’s criticize the glacial pace of justice.

Appointing Chief Justice Sereno: He had the courage to extract Chief Justice Corona from position then defy convention by selecting a junior justice who will seal the Court to integrity for many years.

The Sultan’s Foray into Malaysia: He was firm. He controlled the outcome without derailing the Mindanao Agreement.

American Ship Reefed in Tabataha: He was calm and firm about restitution.

Taiwan Fisherman’s Shooting: He kept his perspective in the face of the Taiwan President’s undiplomatic rant, and subdued a potentially volatile incident.

China In Philippine Territory: He has taken the high road, one of laws, and has not been provoked by China’s relentless taunts.

Puno and Other Loyalists: He was loyal back. He did not wilt under the pressure of the media sensationalist glare.

Reluctance to Back FOI: I’m not understanding why he does not enthusiastically see FOI as hand-in-hand with good governance. FOI should not have to swim upriver. Ding on the issue.

Zamboanga: He was on scene, firm on not negotiating, and handled VP Binay’s out-of-line stab at a peace agreement quietly.

Negotiations with America on Basing: He insists on staying firmly within Philippine laws.

Typhoon Yolanda and a Confrontational Mayor: He did not accede to the Mayor’s game-playing and refuses to back incompetence.

Take any one of these issues and put yourself at the helm.

Wow. Any one is a potential back-breaker. In the limelight. Dealing with powerful people. Dealing with explosive issues. Every decision, to speak or not to speak, to decide or not to decide, comes under the spotlight of crooks and others who carry about their personal bitterness or agendas. This is not tiddly-winks folks.

These are extraordinarily complex and sensitive matters. Can we find flaws? Of course. But the upshot is that the President has piloted a steady, mature, intelligent, law-based course. His hand has been guided by good thinking, good decisions, firm commitment and diplomatic demeanor.

Right at the center of a culture of criticism. In the spotlight.

I also respect President Aquino because he has personality and character. Off duty, he’s a regular guy, with dates and a computer and probably a well-deserved snooze now and then. He walks like I do, with a hitch or a gimp. He smiles like my Cousin Maude when her girdle is too tight and when he is angry his eyes go dark and sharp.

If he were my brother, I’d be immensely proud of him. If his father and mother were alive today, they’d also be proud of this man, their son, who has grown to fill the big shoes of the presidency with high values and masterful handling of intricate matters.

When critics ridicule him about his sister or gait or cars or dates, it makes the critics very little people indeed. Little of character. And mighty cheap patriots.

He was going nowhere when the people drafted him to the presidency. He agreed to serve. Not to coast, or take advantage for personal gain, or to pull power punches to raise up the family dynasty. He just went to work.

He surprised me, for his executive style, for his clarity of understanding, for his determination, for his calm in the face of pressure. I thought he would be like his senate career, undistinguished. I did not expect he would succeed in putting the Philippines quickly on the path to global respect and economic well-being.

Some thought he should cure poverty and corruption in two years.

He is not a dictator. He does not sit on Yamashita’s treasure. He is not a miracle worker any more than the good Cardinal Tagle is, no matter how hard either of them pray. All the President can do is work and make decisions. I respect him for his resoundingly thoughtful perspectives on matters, and for good decisions under fire.

He is high principled. Dedicated. Smart.

Many seem to find it difficult to be proud of the President. Many seem to favor an upscale wheeler-dealer, an ambitious peddler in favors and favoritism. A guy who would cut deals with extortionists, outside the chain of command, cram an unqualified daughter into the senate and jail security guards for just doing their job.

Well, final accountability rests with the voters and no one else. There is no blaming or excuse-making or finger-pointing that can deny the tabulation.

But I’ll tell you, without question, President Aquino is 110% for the Philippines.

He’s doing what he does for you, and he’s doing it for me. It seems to me he is one of the few people in power who genuinely, honorably, puts the nation’s well-being above self-gain.

Comments

I totally agree with you Mr. Joe Am. I sincerely hope that majority of Pinoys do too and help him in whatever way we can to make the Philippines a better place and have honest elected officials as well as government employees.

Well, Lisander, you’ve splattered the blog with comments critical of what people have said. I’d like to suggest you settle down and write one comprehensive response that states what you stand FOR. As for a good leader uniting, I’d say that is difficult when the people he leads are so divided and quick to attack. Election murders have gone on since Aguinaldo formed the republic. The Philippines is the coup capital of the planet. What is your magic formula for uniting all those having strong opinions with absolutely no give in them. Rather like your own, I suspect.

Magic formula for uniting the country. Simple, having a good president doing his job in accordance with the will of the people. It has been 3 years + since he became president, yet the country’s people has been polarized as ever than before. Now you call that BS Aquino’s leadership is very good for the country? You must be living in the moon for quite some time na. Joe “America”? Did NASA put you there?

I guess I’m confused. I thought his popularity polls were high as most people believe he is working to fulfill their desire for clean government and a strong economy with more good jobs.

The Philippines has been polarized since Aguinaldo was running around shooting generals. Polarization is a function of the hard, unbending views held by so many people, and the tendency to personalize everything. On that point, I’m not sure why your comments need to descend to personal slur. That is a sure path to polarization here.

A good president will never exist mate… As long there are some people who can’t have contentment…very time we select a leader we just keep on complaining.. All the blame for the government.. Come on guys…we had Marcos before..but they kicked him out cause of dictatorship..now we have a free government then you want to kick him too..for what mate? Cause you didn’t receive anything from him? Just don’t look on yourself..they are millions of you are just suffering like you..but for sure Aquino done he’s best..

A USELESS leader will never care for a single person in our country..but for sure he had done something..before euro cost 75 pesos..now euro cost 49 pesos..so don’t say he’s not a good leader..:))

He is a good leader or a vindictive one, and the worst he seems to be selective in the manner of persecution of his opponents..kaibigan kaklase kabarilan ….the Hyatt 10 families and friends ,all of this are the true beneficiaries of Aquino government almost the same beneficiaries in term of Cory…THE YELLOW ARMY , PEOPLE ARE NOT EXPECTING TO RIDE A WHEEL WHEN TERM IS GONE….

I don’t think there is such a thing as a yellow army. There are simply a lot of people who want well for their nation and appreciate what the President has to deal with going against a culture of corruption, entitlement, political hostility and crabs.

“The country’s people has been polarized as ever than before”. Where exactly did you make this observation? From the poison the media has fed you? Or from the political attacks stemming from corrupt and ambitious politicians who wants to take over the country so that their illegal dealings be shielded from detection. I know for a fact that in the province I live in, we haven’t been as united as ever since P-Noy rose into power. Yes there might be kinks here and there from time to time but as what the author of this article is saying, no one is perfect. We might have some quarrels sometimes but generally we are united.

I work in Manila and my family was a Yolanda survivor. You have seen massive relief operations at Tacloban airport on TV, and while nearby towns are getting reliefs nothing came to the city proper. Not after a few days after DILG Sec Roxas failed to have the city mayor sign a document that he is incapable of performing his duties as mayor of the city. And when the President came to the city, all we saw was arrogance and lack of empathy. If you were on my shoes, would you accord respect to President Aquino?

You basically don’t have any idea what’s been going on in the Philippines and basing your opinions on totally biased news networks and polls which are mostly run by YOU KNOW WHO. You need to learn more about Oligarchy, Pal.

I always wonder how people I’ve never met know so much about me, like what I read, and are so quick with personal attacks. What’s the point? You aren’t teaching anybody anything or building anything. There is nothing to discuss. The blog is not about me, or you. It is about respect for people who make different choices than we might make.

“I always wonder how people I’ve never met know so much about me” there you said it. As I read your article most of it is somehow in the perspective as if you know the president and that we should “cut him some slack” because he has calm and intelligent personality. Well if that is your basis for being a president then might as well hire a celebrity to do the job. Anyways, personally I have been giving the President some slack for some time now since the Bus hostage crisis to Yolanda. Now though I think he has gone too far. Sometimes as a President a little empathy will go a long way but he rather promote his ego than doing that.

“promote his ego” Albert, we all do that. He has promoted his ego in two ways as I see it. One, he defends what he is doing against the relentless criticisms. He “brags”. What, he is supposed to roll over and get pummelled by all the people who think they can do the job better than him?

Two, he uses personal references to illustrate that he knows pain, too. How else can he show that pain, other than tears. He can’t do tears because (a) it is not presidential, and (b) he has dealt with enough pain himself and has no desire to blubber.

I think people are horrid at putting themselves in other people’s shoes. That’s the perspective that I take in the article. If you think people are good at it, and are getting it right, then by all means support the critics.

I understand what you are saying because I was not one to criticize anyone especially the president which carries a very huge burden of managing a country. There is always a limit to tolerance though because should we just accept every mistake that has done when clearly it could have been prevented. I presume that you have been living here in the Philippines because you know about the incidents that had happened, so you know this is not the first time that the President made a mistake.

What I meant when he was promoting his ego is when somehow he used his own experience to match the feelings of the soldiers. As a president even if there was a mistake/lapses done by one of your officials I think as a good president you should carry the burden of that mistake and say an apology. Aquino though didn’t even say sorry but rather acted as if it wasn’t his fault. If it was not his fault it’s childish to wipe your hands clean of that kind of incident when you consider that he is after all the Commander of Chief of the country.

For the other incidents that had happened when can somehow tolerate it because there were so many factors going on with it and you can’t really control it. This time the only mistake he has done is not to attend the burial of the fallen officers. This situation would have been controlled if he just went to the burial instead of going to a private event from a car company.

Absolutely correct, Maximiano, elected by the people. To serve the people. Not to serve each of us, individually, in terms that we would dictate to him. I mean, people are demanding that the President give speeches that THEY write for him, instead of letting him express his own ideas.

“It is about respect for people who make different choices than we might make.”

Oh, no no no no no.

It’s about making sure Mis-information doesn’t spread. Also, respect begets respect, if you spread mis-information and lies, it’s obvious you’ll get counter arguments. Specially if you bring forth an opinion that was totally based on non-credible sources. Like for example FALSE ASIA and SWS.

Sources are everywhere, don’t just rely on Yellow Aligned news networks and polls. Also, PEOPLE are sources as well, especially those who were at GROUND ZERO and those who has PERSONAL Experience. Heck, I talk to other people as well, even those in the Squatter’s area just to know their sentiments about the current Administration and how it is being handled. Try reading other news Paper articles and compare it to others, you would even find credible news that are not in the Mainstream news (for obvious damage control). I could give you a lot of interesting facts that are hidden from the eyes of the People if you want like for example, how the Aquino-Cojuanco family conspired to alter Article 1, Section 1 of the Constitution to weaken our claim towards Sabah and as a result, our claims on our other islands became weak as well (like Spratly Islands, Batanes, etc.) About how and why on the issue surrounding Hacienda Luisita. How many lies and betrayals the Yellow Power has committed, from privitization to manipulation of our constitution. Here’s a simple advice from me, supporting obvious Corruption that stems up to the Highest Level of Power is not a good thing.

^dgreater1 “Sources are everywhere” Ahahahahaha! I suggest you go out from your mother’s basement and find a job. Talking to the squatter’s area to know their sentiments you say? What a piece of shit. You want to know the sentiments of the very people who don’t pay taxes? They don’t pay taxes and yet they want to be babysit by the government using the very money I earn that I use to pay my taxes. All they do is “tambay” at roadsides, play mahjong and other forms of daily shit. No wonder you’re one heck of a shit as well. Sources are everywhere huh? Sounds like GOOGLE to me LOL. What’s your google source? The TheMonkeyPride from youtube? The unknown authors you find in google results hitting Aquino hard? If I am a president with an attitude of MARCOS, you would be the first one I will have assassinated by speaking an amount of crap all the time. You’re lucky the current president is Aquino. A guy who have to live with crap talking people like you in his daily life.

You just showed how shallow your way of thinking is. If you think every Informal Settlers don’t work and pay taxes, then you’re not worth arguing with, and wow… using “tax” as argument when there are even worst tax evaders? Also, did you even read my comment? They are just “PARTS” of those who you can get information to which is why I interjected “EVEN TO” And More Wow! Marcos???????? How the heck does that even connect!? Or did you just pull that out without even thinking? You’re just like the typical supporters of the Yellow Government. Pushing the Reply/Post Button without even thinking. You’re the one that needs to get out of the cave you’re living in.

First, it’s politically incorrect to call them squatters … if you have not yet came out from your cave for quite a century now, they’re already called “informal settlers”. Second. True sources are everywhere, but even you ask a rich man living in a mansion that will be a bias survey. And besides it’s not only the informal settlers who doesn’t pay tax, can you do math? Find the difference of corrupted money of a paying official and the tax they pay. Third. It’s not only google my dear friend, yahoo remember? fourth. Assassination is your best resolution whenever you find an enemy? where is your morals went?

But I do believe that among all the presidents of the Philippines in my lifetime. PNoy Aquino is the most calm and better among other, better than the land-grabbing legacy of his so called “heroine” mother. But none the less, PNoy was straight forward to the issues he face. I like him better than the others. 🙂

Very Well said Jo. I honestly appreciate your article here. Instead of complaining (the other one here i guess) what Pres. Aquino did on his country, why can’t those people within the said nation will unite and help too. Indeed, there is no better president nor a good leader in the eyes of haters. No matter how many times the president strive in a day, it will not be counted if in the hearts of those haters were hatred and full of doubts.

Well, the idea is to oppose the specific decision or act, but not paint the President on the basis of that one decision or act. What is wholly unreasonable, and really arrogant when you think about it, is the notion that if a president doesn’t do it my way, he is a bad president. Never mind that he has more information, aides who give advice, and has to live with his decision. We only yap in our ignorance and bear no consequence if we think badly.

so jo, would you support binay and help him without looking at jis faults and past? As you said, there is no perfect president. When binay becomes president (i hope not), i want to see if you will be supportive of him from the getgo or will you criticize him because you dont like him.

What you are trying to convince others refarding pnoy, should apply to you too when binay wins. It works both ways

A fair question, Will. I once wrote in the right column where I do notes about this and that that, if Mr. Binay were elected President, I would support him as president. That was before I watched the Blue-Ribbon Subcommittee hearings that showed, without doubt, Binay is a crook and liar. If he were elected, I would likely be quiet, granting respect to the people who put him in office. But I would watch, and criticize or praise decisions and acts he undertook based on their merits. Then I’d weigh them over the course of several years to try to draw a picture of the man based on an accumulation of deeds in office and how the Philippines is doing economically and in other ways. So I would support him to the extent that I would not look for ways to paint him as bad or faulty or undermine his work. I would look at deeds and results. So I would compartmentalize the knowledge that he is a user and manipulator and put it on the shelf. It would take incredible discipline not to allow that knowledge to influence my thinking, but I’d try to play it straight.

By the way, how can you expect a country that unites together and support the President when even the President himself is unable to be the real model for reconciliations and unity among its constituents. He always put the blames on the previous administrations on some difficult problems in the land. He even is not willing to forgive the Marcoses and promised to take revenge against the Marcoses. Is that a good thing to make every citizen of the country unites together and support the President. Anther thing, since it has mentioned here that there is no perfect President or whatecer it is, there will always be negative comments against anybody and that’s the reality. Accept that fact that it is just normal ta have negative feedback against the Presidents based on the experiences we encountered in the real world. Let anyone be respected and that is even accepting the worst thing, the negative feedback. That can serve as a key to further development if those negative comments would be taken positively.

I think that when Mr Joam rated Pinoy as no perfect President he meant a President who has the country in mind but may not have made sterling decisions but whose performance has taken the path to perfection rather than past presidents who had taken the path south of this rating. I agree with his position of respect for Pinoy.

I think this was supposed to be calming? But your writing incensed me. I was so full of emotion that I even declared in my blog without consulting the Mrs that I will migrate if the impeachment/resignation calls gain steam. I just can’t understand how we can be so emotional but lack the maturity to put ourselves in the president’s shoes. How fucking difficult balancing all the private interests that try to sway your judgement towards their own ends. Great writing joe!!

So funny… return of GMA or Marcoses… we do have them in the current politics as senators and congresswoman but where are they? If they really wanted to serve our country with full honesty… there’s no one stopping them… oooooooppppppppppssssss!

Much has been said to distort the image of Aquino as a president and what he stands for and that is to show by example the virtue of “integrity” most politicians do not have. I guess when the norm in the country is “pandaraya, pagnanakaw and panloloko, a president who opposes these becomes the subject of criticism. Aquino has no problem with this because Aquino is a man who is well grounded, educated by the Jesuits and raised by equally idealistic parents is determined to fight all these adversities thrown his way. Let’s help this man instead of tearing him down. Forget Marcos, Ramos, Estrada, GMA. They were all in the office to serve their own agendas. We all know what that is. With that said I agree with
Tom Umali that 6 years is too short for a good president. If the army will support Aquino then let’s embrace martial law.
.

Ah, “a man who is well grounded, educated by the Jesuits and raised by equally idealistic parents”. That is a positively brilliant statement of the foundation of his character, and why he is such a valuable anchor of stability and right-thinking in a culture that swarms in criticism, especially from those who are corrupt.

If all the filipinos are thinking what we can do to help the government in our little way rather than shouting what the government do to us, even the simple Juan de la Crus can handle the presidency easily. Our government need our support to go forward.. Maybe this time we will ask ourselves what I have really done good to my country?

You have some proof of this retort? I held my silence about your inane rantings but I am really disappointed about your incessant negativity. I rarely use ad hominem but I can use my yearly quota on you. How dare you to come here to unleash your protracted ideology like it is written in stone? You are nothing but a Talibanesque caricature.

Mr. Lisander I disagree with you. Pres. Cory and Ninoy were not traitors. Maybe you were sleeping when Cory was the president. She served the Filipinos without any personal motives. That was very clear. I agree with the article. If we Filipinos would rally behind Pres Aquino, I think we can advance a little. He is not perfect! But, I’d rather have him as president than Binay, Marcos, Erap and the like…

Excellent documentary & very close to reality!!!!!that’s why nobody in the congress can stop him.and even MILF,BIFF,ABusayaf could be their clan protector!!!!!! and we should consider also that their origin are not Filipino they are Chinese by blood and most of the big time entrepreneurs as we knew in our country are Chinese,which are exactly same characters like abusing substandard wages,asking very high interest,buying very less amount and continuously threatening employees and this lead to misunderstanding of co Filipinos and preventing us to be united Filipinos.

How sure are we that he is completely clean? Has he not corrupted congress by propagating the pdaf system (that which his appointee’s supreme court to has declared unconstitutional) to accumulate congressional support for his poicies? And what is your stance on his equally controversial DAP? Why do you insist on somehow being lenient towards pnoy when we could not afford the same leniency to the other presidents before him who, I’m sure, have done their share of good as well?

PDAF is a congressional initiative, not Executive. My stance on DAP is to look at the choices he had in coming into office and seeing corrupt and weak programs lined up for funding: (1) continue them, (2) cancel them, return the money to treasury, and watch the economy sag, or (3) reallocate the funds. Which would you do if you were responsible for the nation’s health and well-being?

I have only been here during Arroyo and Aquino, and when I first started blogging, was one of those negative people, always criticizing Filipinos and Filipino culture. Like the Get Real Post people. Then I was educated by visitors to the blog that there is a different way to look at the Philippines if I will simply drop the blinders of believing the American way is the only way. That opened me up to a whole new perspective about the good things here, and I saw them in President Aquino. Then I learned that Filipinos wear blinders, too, called crab behavior.

All I’m doing is calling it as I see it, and a part of the seeing is the recognition that a president can do things differently than I would do them, and still be a good president.

@ Elvira, I agree up to the last sentence. Martial law would not present well globally and would undermine the wealth-building economy. Enough coups already. Stability is important. Let’s just vote well in 2016.

So you wanted to command those who oppose Pres. Aquino to forget those past administrations, well, in fact, it is the President who cannot forget the past administrations and blame them for any “kapalpakan” in the government service he has right now. I think, before telling the Filipinos to forget the past administrations, you must first inform Pres Aquino to stop blaming the previous administrations, forgetting them and move on by just doing his job to address issues and problems in the country. He must make a move to unite the people in the land. Do you think he has the guts to do it right now? I doubt.

Did President Aquino intentionally send the SAF to Maguindanao to die? Was the implementation by an elite force of the PNP of a warrant of arrest against an international terrorist a legitimate government act? What exactly is it that President Aquino allegedly washes his hand on vis-a-vis the Mamasapano massacre? Is President Aquino a military or law enforcement expert? Is being one a qualification for the Philippine presidency? What governmental function/position was Fidel V. Ramos holding when he went to Villamor and to the Mitsubishi plant on the same day? When one accuses another of incompetence is it presupposed that the person who accuses competent? Just asking.

He could have been canonized for sacrificing a lot for the Filipino people. He prefer to stay single through out his term to give priority to the needs of his bosses and that is holiness. Sacrifice means to be Holy. I salute you President Noy the same salute I gave to your Mom and Dad. I am sure they are very proud of you for a job well done. Mabuhay ka at pagpalain ka ng Diyos mahal na mahal ka namin forever more.

“Show me your subordinates and I tell you what leader you are”. Strong leaders are not afraid of stronger subordinates, weak leaders have to prevent that a subordinates take over and therefore they need weaker subordinates. Strong leaders put their subordinates in the limelight, weak leaders seek every opportunity to stand in the limelight themselves. With strong subordinates one has the tendency to delegate, with weak subordinates to dictate. The untrained eye might confuse delegation with weakness and a dictatorial style with strength. (Strength starts with a clear purpose – De Lima – and has nothing to do with bullying strength – Raoul Gonzales of the previous administration -) Just looking at this administration I’m impressed with the number of “Robredo’s”, subject knowledge, straightforwardness, inner drive and energy, each with their own charisma and thus I’m impressed with the president.

Indeed, give the president some slack. In private organizations as a rule of thumb, genuine reforms take 6 months per layer in the organization. An administration is less flexible, just look at the difficulty to replace a judge, a custom officer… The administration is not lean and mean either, but very layered: a president, secretaries, undersecretaries, department heads, regional directors, provincial directors, municipal officers, co-operators… and all other formal and informal levels I don’t know of.

And it is difficult to believe that you can buy / cheat all rating agencies, all international observers, all business people… All of them measuring, experiencing or assuming progress in this administration when compared with the previous one.

I remember as a young executive that a mentor made clear to me that good delegation requires some bend, the ability to accept that subordinates will do things differently, and sometimes wrong. The mistakes become teaching moments, not reasons to complain. The same attitude runs upstream. The boss will do things differently. So what?

I also agree with you that President Aquino’s cabinet is stocked with “Robredos”, and it is unfortunate that it takes a tragedy for some people to grasp this. His ADMINISTRATION is fundamentally honest. Not just him.

Very well said ….. it’s really mind boggling to me the HATE campaign against pres. aquino …. One character i would say he has is that he is an honest man ….. a character that the 3 previous presidents never had ……. he may have lapses or shortcomings as president but he definitely is not a crook ….. that’s one thing that matters ……

Spot on, erwin. If we focus on the 15% bad, we have a crabby nation. If we focus on the 85% good, we have an uplifted nation. The nation often seems way too crabby. President Aquino is, truly, a sound, good president and it amazes me that more people aren’t proud of what their nation is accomplishing.

that’s the filipino for you… in a nutshell, always nit-picking, seeing just the tiny dot on a blank board, carelessly opinionated, never really thinking before acting, reacting like a tsunami wave then forgets about it when next you look, short attention span, no loyalties, never realizing that when he points his finger at his neighbor, there are three more pointing back at him…

No one is perfect. Let’s wait for all those critics to become president and see where they will take this nation. What we need is to trust that he (Noy) will continue to serve so as not to put his parents to shame. When he mentions the sacrifices made by his family, it shows the high value he puts on those sacrifices and this is where he draws his strength despite all the negative commentaries. As one who tries to be a good citizen, I say: you have my support, dear Mr. President. As a mother to a son, be very discerning of what you allow to enter your consciousness, you have enemies as well as friends,

Thanks, Lennie, a very sound bit of advice, delivered in a heartfelt way. One of the things that surprises me about President Aquino as he continues to exceed my expectations of him, is how much he has strengthened and matured as a leader. The man makes the job, and, in this case, the job makes the man. I do believe he is aware of the politics behind the current flare-up. It will be interesting to see what he does about it.

I cant say this president is completely honest. The mere fact that he did not deliver or, at least, continues to renege on his campaign promise to enact the Freedom of Information bill in it’s initial unalduterated form attest to a fear of complete accountability. Would have been impressive, had he done so immediately thereby holding his administration to a stricter, higher standard. But with little more than a year in his administration left, declarations of them being honest ring hollow.The lip service promise and his recent solutions to issues attest to him being nothing more than a “throw money to the problem” traditional politician. Trapo.

Politics is actually a corrupt profession, dealing in a lot of favors given, debt trade-offs, and decisions for reasons other than the national well-being. The Corona impeachment was a pure political play, artfully done. He has delivered transparency IN DEED, if not in law. If you visited Department web sites five years ago, you could get nothing. Now you can go and dig around and find a LOT. Why has he not backed FOI? He says it is because he does not want to have to reveal state secrets (consistent with his saying nothing about US engagement in the Mamasapano incident). But I have relentlessly criticized him on the lack of FOI support. It is one decision. I’m not going to go negative on him when he has the Philippines rising through countless other good decisions.

The fact that there are “state secrets” says something. and there are ways to protect those without taking four years or more on a bill he refuses to certify as urgent. I wouldnt rely completely on data presented on department websites. Remember, it had to take a revelation by an allegedly corrupt senator and the ensuing furor to bring out questions the PDAF and DAP and how it was used before the DBM finally posted it in their website. Was the use of PDAF and DAP, ruled with finality as uncostitutional by the SC headed by his appointed CJ, that which we must consider “state secrets”? As youve said, you only have Arroyo and Aquino as examples. Perhaps we can hold off all plaudits until history has judged with unbiased eyes and now just perform our duty of keeping a critical eye on the government, keeping them on their toes and in the process, keeping them honest. A society that mimics an echo chamber only invites a potential for the powers that be to be arrogant and bullheaded.

Oh, for sure. My views are mine alone, yours are yours, other guests own their ideas. That’s in the Terms for the blog, actually. Indeed, history will decide. But we must each proceed according to our conscience. I’ll keep writing here.

Oh Id love to smack this piece in the face of Tatad, Jojo Robles, the clueless bishops and all the nattering nabobs of negativism, who contribute so little yet shout so loudly that everything is wrong. I have this notion that many of these naysayers have it going badly in their personal lives, and find some comfort in putting the blame on the incumbent. It takes the accountability from themselves and blames the national for their own wretched personal situation.

Having said that I share this piece by Boying Pimentel and I think it’s the most pragmatic view of the Presidency (Inquirer, Oct 15, 2013):

“That’s because the fight against corruption should be really be waged as a political battle. And in political battles, the path isn’t always straight.

“Daang Matuwid” reminds me of a scene in the movie, “Lincoln,” when the American president, played by Daniel Day Lewis, talked about the use of compass to explain the need for flexibility in politics.

“It’ll point you True North from where you’re standing, but it’s got no advice about the swamps and deserts and chasms that you’ll encounter along the way,” Lincoln says. “If in pursuit of your destination, you plunge ahead, heedless of obstacles, and achieve nothing more than to swing in a swamp, what’s the use of knowing True North?”

As the movie ends, the anti-slavery crusader Thaddeus Steven calls a new law banning slavery in the United States “the greatest measure of the 19th Century passed by corruption, aided and abetted by the purest man in America.”

That “purest man” was Lincoln.

As the Steven Spielberg movie and the book “Team of Rivals,” Doris Kearns Goodwin’s compelling account of the Lincoln presidency, showed, he wasn’t exactly pure.

In the 19th Century, he took on a gargantuan challenge: Ending slavery at a time when the despicable practice was not only accepted in many parts of the U.S., people were actually willing to go to war to defend it.

But Lincoln took on this challenge not as a crusade, but as a political battle.

He didn’t put himself on a pedestal, pontificating about the evils of slavery and presenting himself as the “pure” president who will finally put an end to it.

Instead, Lincoln formed alliances even with people he may not have completely agreed with, compromised and, when faced with tough options, resorted to sneaky tactics. To get the needed votes to pass a law ending slavery, his allies, with Lincoln’s blessings, bribed some members of congress.”

Pnoy is our Lincoln. He isnt exactly pure, but he has waged battles that were ultimately good for the country.

Ah, my, yes. Wonderful illustration of the point. Jesus is not in office. Pnoy is, and we are blessed, for sure. And I kick myself for leaving the CBCP political bishops off the list of critics who should be ignored.

that Lisander guy reminds me of someone always complaining that our streets are always filthy, but you will never see him clean the part of the street that’s in front of his house, always blame it on barangay officials.

I envision the US as a very large ship and over a Presidential term or even two, the president may be able to alter the course of the ship by a degree or two but rarely, if ever, make great changes in direction. The momentum/inertia of the course is a combination of factors, including history, culture, laws, expectations and practices.
I have been surprised to learn that the Philippines, an independent country for less than a century, also has its own considerable momentum. Obviously history and culture predate political independence; the influence of the Spanish occupation for 400 years is widely considered the source of the culture of corruption that pervades the Philippines. But the Philippines is also an Asian country and the Asian ethic that cheating and betrayal in commercial relationships is acceptable as good business practice has also been incorporated into business and government attitudes here. (People cheat and betray in the U.S. as well, but most accept that what they have done is ethically wrong. Not all, but most, although my perception is that compared to say, fifty years ago, there are more who lack an ethical barrier than there were formerly.) The datu and clan legacy shows in current Filipino laws and attitudes on property and, by extension perhaps even in driving practice, where the line separating traffic lanes is accorded far less respect than it receives in the U.S. The American influence was much briefer, although it did not end with Philippine national independence, and the cultural/political/social influences now are more amorphous and less official/intentional than they were in the past. Whatever the contributing causes, the Philippines has its own load of momentum/inertia. The end result is that the President of the Philippines is almost as limited in the degree of change that can be accomplished during a term in office as is the President of the US.
Given all that, I find the accomplishments of President Aquino thus far to have been truly amazing, particularly in the arena of corruption and in instituting systems and practices that should reduce corruption in the future. The exposure of existing corruption at the highest levels of government and the initiation of prosecution proceedings are indications of a great sea change in Filipino politics as is the effort to reform the judiciary, starting also at the highest levels. My exposure to Filipino politics is very limited both temporally and practically but in my brief experience this kind of progress is unprecedented. Cory Aquino’s primary accomplishment during her term was survival. Even Fidel Ramos, who is in my estimation the last past-president to have done more good than harm to the Philippines during his term, did not attempt to fight corruption at this level or with this degree of intensity.
The obvious question is whether this progress will be continued in future presidencies. It seems unlikely that the work that has been begun will be completed by the end of President Aquino’s term. Given that the amount of progress one president can make in one term is limited, it is equally possible that his successor, if corrupt or inept, can vitiate all of that progress and probably can restore most the practices that favor those in power at the expense of those who most deserve it.
If my prayers have any efficacy, the next President of the Philippines will continue the effort to return the government to serving the Filipino and not just the elite. (And if my prayers have any efficacy, the next president of the United States will do the same for the people of the US.) In the meantime, in my estimation, the two most important things that need to be accomplished before the next presidential election are to educate and motivate the masses of the Philippine electorate, both the educated working class and the largely uneducated poor, on the importance of voting for honest people of integrity and to provide them with a slate of these people, in the stead of a slate of trapos, to represent their interests in Congress and in the Senate.

Boy, David, you really know how to hit nails on the head. Wham wham. Wham. I particularly appreciate your “call to action”, and if there is a message here for the current administration, it is to get busy extending “honest government” and the idea of making “good voting decisions” all the way out to the rice workers and laborers and everyday people.

Working in grassroots community development, there is a recognition that the deeper problem for development is not just economic but ethical. Ethical values formation is a core need on the grassroots to counter the prevailing acceptability of corruption which, I think, blinds most from seeing the true accomplishments of the President’s leadership.

Very true. Education even on basic human principles, which starts from the family, is a good start. Ignorance and poverty can uplift the grassroots, widen their perspectives when they realize that the truth they thought is not.

@David Murphy “…to educate and motivate the masses of the Philippine electorate, both the educated working class and the largely uneducated poor, on the importance of voting for honest people of integrity and to provide them with a slate of these people, in the stead of a slate of trapos, to represent their interests…” easier said than done if you ask me, especially if the president is riding on a huge wave of criticism, sailing against a strong tide… but certainly very worth praying and striving for…

When Noynoy Aquino, during the presidential campaign before he was elected president, vowed to be honest and pursue a straight path if elected president, I believed him. I believed him then because I thought it was not just a campaign promise like most politicians do during campaign sorties but that he said it in front of the Filipino people with such fervor that the electorate like myself took it like it was a vow that could not just be broken after winning the election. Of course any politician can act like an honest man and promise anything during election, except that politicians have personal and political track records, and the Filipino people who are now awaken, having been exposed to all such broken promises, can now see the ruse and can see through the facade of those lying politicians. And so, the Filipino people elected him president. As things stand now, it seems that the Filipino people made the right decision.

Now, here comes Joe, my friend, writing something good about our president, and Joe, most of the time is correct, thus I totally agree with what he’s saying in this thread.

In 2016, Binay, or Roxas, or Chiz, or Lacson, etc., can promise the same thing as Noynoy did in the presidential campaign but the electorate know their records, and can see through their facade. We will see.

Bert, good of you to stop by and add your stamp of endorsement to our good President. I’m thinking Secretary Roxas is getting some very good crisis training right now (Zamboanga and Tacloban), but I don’t think he can match the Binay popular magic. The others don’t light a fire for me, either.

You ain’t seen nothin’ yet, Joe. That popular magic is just that, a magic, now you see it, now you don’t. It’s a bubble waiting to be bursted . Remember that political alliance called UNA? Binay, Enrile, Estrada, maybe Revilla? There is a reason, or lots of reason, why those guys are allied. We will see more revelations in the months leading to 2016, revelations that will burst the bubble. That Dasmarinas incident with the security guards is just a penny compared to this one. We will see.

Secretary Roxas you say? Hmmmm, let me see, Joe. Was he not the guy who banned the sale of all hammers in hardwares to stop jewelry store heists after one store was robbed? I think that was an extremely bright idea from the good secretary, don’t you think so?

That’s right an impeachment body is independent. But it being independent only refers to it not being a part of another body not to it being untouchable. Impeachment is a process exclusive to Congress, a body elected by the people. An impeachment is a political process, it is not the same as a process in a court of law. Anybody from the president on down can try to influence the outcome of an impeachment because it is a political process and everybody is a part of the body politic

“Anybody from the president on down can try to the outcome of an impeachment.”

Please read again what you’ve just wrote. Yes, the president CAN influence the impeachment process, but we HAVE LAWS, and he is DUTY BOUND to uphold it. Anything less than that that would amount to betrayal of public trust, which is a GROUND for IMPEACHMENT. My gulay, he is the Chief EXECUTIVE. He SHOULD be impeached.

Mr. Manuel Buencamino, Impeachment is not a exclusive to Congress, rather it is a process ENTIRELY INDEPENDENT from Congress. Read more on your law. Simply speaking, your president committed an impeachable offense.

Maybe you are right that he did break the law. So did a lot of the other past presidents. But guess who he broke the law for? Not for himself or personal gain like all the others. He broke the law for the Philippines so that the SC may again regain its credibility and to pave the way to bring to justice an erring past president. Even Lincoln as mentioned in the previous post, cut some corners or got into shady dealings, to accomplish something monumental. Which brings us to Joe’s point–cut the guy some slack.

George Bush Sr. was indeed a dignified president, a good man and a good president. He was of the fatherly type, calm and wise. Being president is a very hard job. Getting re-elected is hard, too, if circumstances get the better of you.

Joe, you are one of my favorite bloggers; that your are American-Filipino retaining a cultural lens as an “outsider” looking in provides a perspective that we insiders probably fail to appreciate, like proverbial frogs in a slowly boiling well, self-destructing with hyper-critical blinders at the expense of our young nation’s progress.

Well, Richard, you have just become one of my favorite readers! 🙂 I think it helps to have no real agenda other than the well-being of the Philippines, to be willing to be wrong and to keep an open mind. I’m glad you appreciate the cross-cultural view. I’ve learned a lot here, for sure.

Yes, I think he got that determination from his father. I wonder if Grace Poe can be tough. I’m thinking she can be, judging from her remarks to other senators regarding FOI, which paraphrased said “stop dilly-dallying around and get some substantive questions into me ASAP so we can move this bill forward”.

I’m glad you brought up Grace Poe. She indeed could be tough although has not had her baptism of fire. She seems to be treading on her own Daan Matuwid propelled by a force of integrity. I have been telling people that Grace Poe is the candidate to field, along with Leni Robredo as candidate for VP. I see no one else who can stand up to the Binay magic.

Abe galon. U are korek because your Pnoy and the LP party are exepmted to the rules,they can corrupt as long as they are all together and protect the oligarch interest. With the media on their payroll,they can change your thinking specially if you only watching big media like ABS CBN and GMA. Pnoy didn’t tell the other meaning of tuwid na daan .Your korek ,this is only for opposition.
I belive U are a victim of brainwash or they told you to brainwash as too. By the way ,they told they have already saving (some goes to DAP to bribe a tuwid na daan senators) but BIR still short of collection..WT..F maybe you also are a fanatic FAN of Queen of media

Critics blame the president for everything and credit him with nothing. Thus their criticism is nothing more than just bitching. And the best thing I like about those bitches is some of them go as far as saying that things were better under GMA and the dictatorship which then reveals their true colors.

Perhaps that may be the point:criticism can be a catalyst. These revolutions did not stop with the complaints or rants, rather people acted upon them. Rather than name-calling or burning an effigy, I would rather that the opposition would build a case against towards impeachment. Change cannot be achieved by an opinion but by some form of action.

Criticism is what makes democracy work. Democracy also works if it is allowed to. That is, it is not disrupted by coups and impeachments every few years. One of the problems in the Philippines is that there has been no continuity of good governance at the top. It is one step forward and two back. So I agree with your principle, but not the specific act suggested, impeachment.

Since Joe already already stated that PNoy is respectable despite his flaws, will we be choosing the lesser evil with this impeachment? I go back to the Spiderman movie quote: “With great power comes great responsibility.” We blame PNoy for everything, including things that his Cabinet Secretaries should be taking care of. Isn’t that their job to handle specific areas of national governance? Shouldn’t more of the blame come from them? But the real question is, did the economy improve as you point fingers? Rather than name-calling & constant blaming, let us all do our individual jobs with integrity. As a friend said, some Filipinos are quite fond of disposables: diapers, plates, spoons, forks, and so many more, including disposable presidents. If anyone is to be blamed, it is the voters who think that one sack of rice can feed a family of four for three years while the politician who gave it to them steal hundreds of thousands up to millions during their term. David is very much right, the masses must be educated on voting for people with integrity.

I agree with you. Criticisms are bitching the president. Philippines will never move forward no matter how hard our public officials try to change it if we the people who voted for them would not extend a hand to help them through and make this country a better place to live in. Funny though that those who criticize a lot never lifts a finger. Ask yourself though ( for those who don’t agree with the administration ) what have you done to help contribute to the betterment of your community to start with?
God bless you.

I agree. There really are those who make it their lifetime advocacy to criticize and complain about everything. We should not listen to such as those as they will never look past the tips of their noses. They are interested only in being more of a problem rather than helping find a solution. I believe PNoy said something similar during his inaugural speech at the Grandstand. And I remember resolving to be a part of nation-building rather than fence-sit and be a keyboard warrior.
These past few days have been so depressing and frustrating, to say the least. And this essay has put a little smile back on my face. Aquino is not perfect, and neither is anyone in this country.
Thank you for being the voice of reason and clarity.
Ironically, I saw this from a friend’s link; he who is so quick to criticize and shoot from the hip. It pays not to burn bridges.
The Pope was right about how to end poverty: educate the masses. We are getting there but the incumbent cannot do it alone. I voted for PNoy and despite the tragedy of the fallen 44, I strongly believe I did not waste my vote. Many people with integrity and breeding are often misconstrued as weak. But for those who live their lives with that same upright principles and impeccable breeding, we recognize the kindred spirit a mile away. 😉
The few of us who remain truly loyal to flag and country must work double time Now as time waits for no one.
Kudos!

It was good of you to visit the blog, Jenni. This article has “legs”, in that it is as important today as it was a year ago when I wrote it. It is one of the most popular articles on the blog because most people read it exactly as you do. I hope you will also check out some of the current material (home page) and offer up your views on things. The meat of the blog is generally the rich discussions.

I’ve seen nasty things hurled over cyberspace, which is why I’ve stayed away from commenting. But I will make an exception with this insightful, calm and rational blog. Kudos to you!
I am humbled by your patience (it’s par for the course, I know, but still…) and positive outlook despite all those comments from shameful and egocentric bigots.
May your tribe increase. And yes, I will exp,ore the Homepage. I am new to this as I have been somewhat averse to bloggers. Well it’s good to know that things have changed somewhat.

We survived the global financial crisis of 2008 because of sound and maybe even unpopular gov’t policies administered like bitter pills. We even registered growth then. I wonder where would we be now if we got hit hard like most countries.

Sen Bong Revilla delivered an hour-long privilege speech at the Senate claiming Pres Aquino’s dirty politics was behind the plunder charges filed against him in connection with the PDAF scam. After listening to his protestations of innocence, Revilla convinced me that he is guilty.

Yes, what a lot of whining and total absence of any accountability for money that seems to have simply disappeared under his watch. When someone blames the whistle blowers, or people totally unrelated to the incident, you can bet they are trying to deflect attention from their own criminal or negligent behavior.

When the whole world has to know that you attended a prayer session with your family before your privileged speech, that you attend bible classes with your son, than it is obvious that you need all public support you can get. Religion driven by PR man, shameful.

I am also convinced Revilla is guilty. Why did it take him many months before to answer the alleged plunder against him. Because he looked for people who will testify on his side to corroborate with his lies.

He certainly wiggles like a worm in his privilege speeches, failing to address his own responsibility under the Constitution to certify where his pork is spent, and throwing a lot of dirt in the air hoping it will blind people.

Mr. Joe, I agree with your observation of President Aquino. He is one good man whose heart and mind is for the good of the Philippines and the Filipino people.

What the citizens do not know is that he is only one and needs the support of everyone around him. Cleaning the government needs the help of everyone including all the agencies in government – the different departments, the judiciary, congress and the local government units. This is where we the citizens should come in, with the power of technology like taking videos and uploading these to social media is a good way of watching all these things going around us. We document the good and the bad and we blame who is supposed to be blamed and give credit to those doing good. It is easy for us to blame the President on every little thing … but did we check who should respond first. Example is Typhoon Yolanda in Leyte. Mayor Romualdez FIRST response was going to media broadcasting what happened to his family, his cars, and his houses then criticize PNOY and Roxas … but did he tell us what HAPPENED TO THE PEOPLE OF LEYTE AND WHAT HE DID FOR THEM before going to the media???

Another example is the BOC … imagine a branch of the judiciary intervening and issuing TROs in such a way that corrupt people can’t be fired. why oh why ???? Some people really don’t have any delikadeza what so ever … if they are fired they go to court so they could keep their perks.

President Aquino is only one person and if we do not help him … whatever he is achieving now will be history soon.

I am so proud as a Filipino netizen though, with what we are doing on social media like the “Binaygate” incident in Dasmarinas Village, the PDAF and all those involved in it. I hope we will continue to sustain all these so many more will read and react to all these corrupt and abusive people so their names and their cronies will be not be written in ballots come 2016.

Mr. Joe just keep blogging and continue opening our minds to the realities of these Islands called the Philippines.

Thanks, ella, I will keep blogging. I have a lot to say about Romualdez, but I have to let my temper cool a bit first. I am compiling a checklist of the villains of Philippine society, where villainy is characterized by the total absence of any accountability for problems whatsoever, and vile attempts to dump the guilt on others. The list now includes: Romauldez, Revilla, Estrada, Enrile and Napoles. Binay is on another list entirely. I’m trying to think of a name for the list, mulling over “thug, mobster, Godfather, Mafiosi, dynastic baron, and overly-ambitious self-dealer, among others”. So many good choices I get confused.

I hope Binay does not win and undo what the president has done but he would likely win based on the people’s history of voting. As for Aquino, I think he is ok but I prefer a president who would hang the corrupt bastards in the senate. Looking at the taxes I have to pay and hearing the news on corruption makes my blood boil.

Yes, I’m afraid I don’t comprehend why justice moves so slowly in the Philippines. Given the reams of data and testimony provided by multiple sources, why is nothing happening regarding the three accused Senators? The President has to abide by the law or risk impeachment, and I’m not sure what the hitches in law are that prevent action. The longer these guys are allowed to run free, the more troublesome they are for the President. I recognize I am presuming guilt. But the point is, if the information does NOT justify prosecution, then excuse the cases. Otherwise prosecute them for negligence or thievery. Like, NOW.

The DOJ sent their findings to the Ombudsman and recommended the filing of charges. The Ombudsman is now reviewing the recommendation of the DOJ, assessing their findings. There rae no hitches in the law that could cause delays but I believe the Ombudsman wants to make sure she has an airtight case before she submits her charges to the Sandiganbayan. Proving plunder in court is quite difficult so I’m cutting the Ombudsman some slack. Anyway, the case is out of the president’s hands now. It is now with the Ombudsman, he cannot touch it anymore. It would be an impeachable offense if he tries to influence the Ombudsman at this point.

You may include the Aquino Japanese sympathizer, the Aquino communist supporter, and the Aquino who empowered the oligarchs to control the wealth of the nation through the 1987 Constitution, and the Cojuanco-Aquinos who own parts of the Hacienda Luisita.

That was an interesting case, anne. I’ve written a lot about it. I believe in the principle of DAP because Executive needs to get things done, and discretionary decisions that don’t have to wade through Congress are important. Also, I ask the question, if you came into office in June 2010 and saw a lot of corrupt or weak projects lined up in the budget, what would you do? (1) Return the money to treasury and watch the economy sag, (2) go ahead with the corrupt and weak projects, or (3) re-allocate the money to worthwhile projects. I have yet to find anybody who would choose any answer but (3).

Thats a lot of power via unregulated funds in one branch of government not subjected to a check and balance by another branch. We always forget that the DAP was hidden from us up until Jinggoy whined about it. Where was transparency prior? There are processes and rules. We cannot skirt around them just because we think we are right or doing good. What for then laws -democracy- if that were the case?

DAP was not hidden. It was in the news. Estrada’s complaint made it look like corruption and stirred up the legal trouble. You can go to the DBM web site and get every detail about DAP. Abad put in the system to do that because he does believe in tracking things and providing transparency. The problem is that we are talking about billions of pesos and hundreds of projects, big and little. Here’s the question. If you came into office in 2010 and saw a lot of projects were corrupt or going to poor use, would you: (a) continue the projects, (2) cancel the projects and watch the economy sag, or (3) re-allocate the money? Then go from there.

there may be a lot of critics for the incumbent president, but lets face it cleaning the ranks is not that easy. Being transparent most especially on matters of public funds will surely create enemies to the president most especially erring and self serving corrupt officials who uses their position only for themselves. Come to think of it …. this has been happening ever since and we never knew all about it (as detailed as it is now) … not up to the time this government made this extensive cleansing …. cover up perhaps ?…. just asking. One thing for sure I respect the President for what he is doing right now .. He may not be a perfect president but he is just perfect for me hope his works will pave the way for a better Philippines. Sometimes it is best for us to release some of those personal emotions that has clouded as the rational reality on the daily issues that confront us everyday … we should rather weigh it rationally and not emotionally.

Yes, it is hard to keep emotions in check sometimes. That’s why I have to step back from time to time, when he is under fire, to look at the bigger picture. And I end up highly thankful. I find it interesting that on Twitter, one person has labeled me a “paid hack” of the Aquino administration for writing this article. I checked my Land Bank account, and it is still the same balance as last time. I tell you, some people have amazing illusions going on in their brain, and they actually LIVE according to them.

Indeed there are people that are delusional living in their own world that all they want to read and hear is what is pleasing to them. Their mind seemed to be clouded by their own strong belief and convictions despite the fact of evidence that appears contrary to the latter, They sometimes tend to be harsh as some point .. tagging everyone as paid bloggers or part of the yellow army as some say it , just to name a few. I am just curious though… perhaps you can throw some few bucks if your bank account suddenly surge up… ha ha .. just joking, perhaps sometimes we need some few laughs to keep us in control of our emotions. Sometimes I keep on thinking if these guys are real, perhaps they are the paid bloggers after all. Mr. Joe keep it up, nice article 🙂

Yes, it would be nice to get a credentials check on people. Where is NSA Philippines? Find out what the agenda is for those busy selling rather than analyzing. I confess that I am selling a certain kind of loyalty to country, and to the democratically elected leader who is bringing the Philippines back from pretty horrid, corrupt times.

List of PNOY crimes
Feel free to add to the following list of crimes committed by Pnoy Aquino, plus some questions about further acts of treason and other crimes:

– literally hundreds of counts of betraying the public trust;
– dereliction of duty (Luneta massacre, natural disasters);
– perverting the course of justice (Puno, Padaca);
– bribing 188 congressmen;
– bribing 20 senators;
– perverting the course of justice (Corona);
– conspiracy to pervert the course of justice (Corona);
– perverting the course of justice (Aquino cannot be impeached because his bribery of the two house of Congress means they cannot sit in judgment of a crime that they are also party to);
– conspiracy to pervert the course of justice (Aquino, the corrupt congressmen and the corrupt senators have conspired to ensure they can never be impeached by all being guilty of the same crimes);
– criminal malversation of funds (yes, that is what the DAP is);
– destroying constitutional government (specifically the separation of powers) by bribing the legislature; and
– breaking his presidential oath by destroying constitutional government – this is arguably the biggest betrayal of the public trust.

On top of these charges where the facts are in the public domain, Aquino has never answered questions about what Trillanes – a twice-convicted traitor – was doing in China last year. The Philippine ambassador’s notes suggests that Trillanes completely sold out the Philippine negotiating position – that is consistent with him being a twice-convicted traitor – and that leaves us with these questions:

1. What was Trillanes doing in China?
2. What were his orders?
3. Why hasn’t he been investigated for selling us out according to the ambassador’s notes?

Then we have the hocus PCOS affair with the nationwide 60/30/10 voting pattern in May 2013:

1. Was Aquino elected courtesy of the same corrupted programming of these machines?
2. Despite the evidence from May 2013 of corrupted programming of these machines, why has Aquino never ordered an investigation of this theft of the most basic of democratic rights?

This administration, in less than 3 years, has robbed us of our right to vote by HOCUS PCOS 60/30/10, has taken land from the poor farmers in hacienda luisita, destroyed the constitution by ousting a chief justice with bribery, engaged in the malversation of funds through DAP and PDAF facilitating the theft of trillions of pesos, single handedly raised the prices of gas, water and electricity, to be among the most expensive in Asia, withheld help from a calamity stricken area due to politics which resulted in thousands of deaths of innocent people, engaged in treasonous negotiations with China and Malaysia giving up large swaths of Philippine territory, and is now threatening to unconstitutionally remove duly-elected officials in the government for a flimsy reason as an improperly submitted SOCE, and that’s just everything I can remember

What is a bribe to you is political push to me, something that has been in politics since the getgo. If you start from the standpoint of finding things wrong, you are sure to succeed, because even constructive acts can be twisted backward. I won’t get into a debate with you on line items. Each issue is a blog in its own right. The one point I agree with you on is your query about Trillanes. But I think that kind of investigation would have to come from the press, as the President does have certain rights to run the business of state as he believes is best. I think the ease with which you toss serious judgments about “crime, robbing us of our rights, perverting the course of justice” without a single statement of positive deed suggests you have a preconceived conclusion your are trying to sell. I’m not buying. But I appreciate the time you took to elaborate your view.

My preconceived conclusion is that a lot is going right in the Philippines, the President is fundamentally a good man and leader, many people judge the whole of an effort based on incidents they don’t like, and it weakens the nation to denigrate the leader. It took me a lot of study and work to get past my natural cynicism and “go positive” about the Philippines and its President.

A bribe is a bribe. I thought he represented change? So why perpetuate questionable practices that were around from the ” get go”? We elect congressmen and senators to represent us, not to be influenced -pushed- by a president.

Everytime I post something critical about BS Aquino, you yellow army would rush to his defense and give the following challenge:

1. It is not easy to be the President so stop criticizing Noynoy.

2. He is just one man and cannot do everything but he means well.

3. At least he is against corruption.

4. It is all GMA, Erap, FVR and Marcos’ fault so don’t blame him.

5. Puro kayo reklamo. What have you done for your country.

6. Eh di kayo na ang maging presidente.

7. (New) At sino ipapalit ninyo si Binay?

These are the top six ( now seven) defenses/excuses and for the record I would like to address them. So here it goes……

1. A President asked to be placed in that position of power. He begged for our votes with promises and sweet talk. Once in position, a president receives in his hands the immense power of government. Yes it is a hard job, but he did ask for it and because he promised a better life for us citizens and he uses our money and resources, then we as his citizens, individually and as a group have the right and privilege to criticize his every action. It comes with the job description.

2. He, as the president is not one man!!!! He has at his disposal the multi thousand man strong force of the government, uniformed and civil service both. He can move mountains if he wishes so and with the right political will. He only needs to choose the right people to fulfill his every order, but his choices have been questionable so far. Meaning well is all and good, for an ordinary person. For the president of the republic, meaning well must be backed up by intelligent planning and proper action. He must be on top of the situation ready to address any issue big or small because his every move and gesture will always be taken as national policy and direction. Everyone takes their cue from the president, so if things get screwed it came from him directly or otherwise.

3. Being against corruption does not stop at sloganeering. Giving the excuse that it is deeply rooted in society is not acceptable. Singapore hanged their corrupt politicians and leaders without bias toward party affiliation. Thailand and Malaysia still have former politicians in jail for corruption. They are three of the ASEAN powers today but used to lag well behind us. Marcos had a drug dealer shot in Luneta, and until 1987, drugs was never a national problem.

But in this administration we have a budget secretary who was once the hit man of GMA, a cabinet secretary who owns the jueteng operation in a southern Luzon province, a set of dubious customs executives related to Malacanang, an LTO still ridden with anomalies and a budget used for unknown reasons like DAP and PDAF which is still in our 2014 GAA despite a public outcry against it.

4. It is your house now for crying out loud. If you have not been able to clean it after 3.5 years then something must be wrong with your Tuwid na Daan policy. Because if it was Tuwid na Daan, then it must be a very narrow road and anyone who does not follow it can be easily spotted and left at the wayside. But it is not. You still blame everyone, from the former presidents to lackeys in your government you retain anyway, to imaginary forces plotting against you. No one is plotting against you chief. You actually had 78% of the Filipino people behind you when you started your term. I think that just got slashed to more than half by now, but there is no conspiracy to bring you down because you are effectively doing it to yourself. You and your minions.

5. What have we done for our country? We wake up every morning and go to work and be productive. We pay our taxes dutifully and observe the law. We raise our children to be future productive, law abiding members of society who help in raising the GDP, national spending and economic activities. We, all of us, do these simple things that when added up results in millions of pesos the government can use to develop our nation and alleviate hardships and poverty.and all we ask is that this government look after our welfare.

This same government that used up the Malampaya fund for their own ends, allowed a 4.15 peso power hike, ignored the needs of thousand of Yolanda victims, refused to create policy to regulate public transport that not only kills but cripples our economy through horrendous traffic jams.

And these are the few of the bigger sins like theft of tax money and cheating.

6. We did not apply for the job, but your president did! As I said earlier, through his campaign during elections, he wooed, begged, asked us to vote him into power. Only his equally power hungry party mates fooled him into thinking he is fit for the job and so pushed him on. Using the emotional leverage of his mothers death, they capitalized on the Filipino’s reverence for the late great Cory Aquino to catapult him into power.

He wanted the job, we don’t, so don’t go around using that argument because we are putting the responsibility where it belongs, to the person who volunteered for the job.

Believe me, a more mature person would rather face up to the challenge than whine and complain about the job.

(New addition)7. The issue is the mismanagement of Noynoy Aquino and not his eventual replacement. We are pointing out the deficiency of this current president and how he addresses these deficiencies and criticism. We are demanding responsibility and proper action. Not another set of excuses.

(Post publish note – I am not endorsing Binay, I cite the excuse because that is what I am discussing here. So to the a dark forces, please refrain from celebrating on this thread. -ivp)

All these excuses are just that, excuses. A statesman will never look, talk and act vindictive because he will try to unite his people into one force.

By consistently harping on known and unknown enemies every time he opens his big mouth, BS Aquino only continues to polarize the nation between those who support him against those who question him.

And by doing this there will be no progress because the animosity between the two factions is too strong for any cooperation to happen. Just look at his own Liberal Party divided into the Samar and Balay group. The jockeying for position is so immense.

But I digress.

These are my answer to every Noytard and Yellow Army brat out there who spew the same argument over and over just like their mighty leader.

Listen to yourselves because the truth be told, these are propaganda lines used as a marketing tool to keep the real issue behind an iron curtain of deception.

(1) The people spoke, he promised he would do what they wanted. He won the election. The people spoke. (2) Yes, the buck stops with the President. (3) The President is not a dictator. He picks people who can do the job best, in his eyes. He is entitled to that discretion. It is not up to me or you to pick the staff who have very important jobs. If we judge by financial integrity and economic revitalization, his band of miscreants is doing fine.(4) Corruption is deep and it is serious. The US economy went in the tank in 2008 and is just now coming back. Corruption is deeper and more pervasive than the economy. It is a force of culture. (5) Okay. (6) Who is the more mature person you recommend?

Who do you think is the best president and what characteristics do you want for a president. This you should answer so that we can freely discussed of how this government is doing and we could help others to decide on who to vote for the next president. I did not vote for Pnoy but since he won big time, might as well support him in all things that is good for us Pinoys!

The hacienda incident took place 25 years ago and has little relevance to Mr. Aquino’s work as President. His sister is entitled to a personality and career and she was successful long, long ago. If anything, the President got an assist from her fame. That’s the way popularity works hereabouts.

Well, you know, Ches, I don’t write blogs to fill in the blanks you want filled in. I also don’t ignore comments that are well presented and deal with issues rather than personal insult. Your remarks slide to personal insult. When they do that, they become well worth ignoring.

Where was the insult there? You guys choose to ignore things which will counter whatever you said…

Of course you can continue to respect anyone if you only choose to acknowledge the good.

@andrew lim – now thats what i call an insult. Just because i dont agree with what the author said, you get to berate how someone thinks? Comment was not even pointed to you. A lil ksp i would say just to get to side with someone…

Even hundred or thousand years have past. There is a big relevance in his work as President. He’s family are involved.
Grand-Father did the cheating, his Mom did the cover up and now he is the President and have all the power to do what is right. The contract with his Grand-father is to give them back to the Farmers. What is the hold-up? Be righteous and don’t ignore the people.

How about the fact that Hacienda Luisita is still almost entirely controlled by the Aquino clan when then CJ Corona already judged that the farmers are the rightful owners? And how about the FOI bill Pnoy promised during his campaign but after he won the seat of president he never ran out of reasons to “NOT” classify the FOI bill as urgent. But when it comes to bills that he favours such as the RH Bill he declared it urgent almost immediately. Oh and how about when he said that he will stay in Tacloban until the city gets back on its feet? But a day after PDAF was ruled unconstitutional he immediately went back to Manila?

I agree the courts are crazy-slow in dealing with appeals on the Hacienda and everything else. I gave the President a ding on FOI in the text of the article. He is entitled to discretionary judgment as leader. He need not and cannot do everything the way everyone wants, not you, not me, not everyone with a bone to pick. That’s a main point of the article. The president is entitled to do things other than what we personally want.

How can you give someone a slack when he has nothing in his blood but vengeance and hatred. Vindictiveness runs in their family too, but they are okay to stepped on people themselves without repentance and comfortably living with the case of Hacienda Luisita where the victims has no justice of being robbed and murdered and continuously denied of their properties. Who can respect someone who has no moral virtue on healing a sick person and denies a burial of our dead? How can you like a family, who bailed the number one enemy of the Government who was responsible of killing many innocent civilians and soldiers alike without any disregard to family victims? Just because he was a family friend? How can you like a leader who washes his hands to event of a major catastrophe, instead, pointed his finger and blame it to someone who has no control of Nature? Whereas he’s the leader and it is his duty to call all his Officials to checked on their status. How can you like a leader knowing that there is a major storm that is about to hit, but did nothing instead of calling and prepare the Armed Forces to put them on alert along the disaster zone, so rescue will be swift if there’s need. Days and weeks passed without any help while people are still clinging to their life whom could have saved if only help was nearby. How can you like him, when the so-called Pork Barrel devoured while in his watch and not a clue how it happened? Not to mention the Millions in Dollars donated by different Nations to aid the victims of Yolanda? Yes, They’re building some housing, but they are selling them to the victims? Where are the donations? Give and distribute the donations to the victims which is the real intention of the donors and besides, no one own’s them but the victims.
Ampatuan Massacre, the Warlord jailed, is their justice done, even thou there is a witness or witnesses? I don’t think so. Remember the case of Maggie de la Riva? That’s justice!
Lastly, put your nose where it belong. How dare you criticized Former President John F. Kennedy and President Ronald Reagan. Good politician people who really made, delivered and performed their duties as President to the Country and it’s Citizens. This is beyond your jurisdiction and what you did is expose them with things that has nothing to do with their work as a President. How dare you lined them up with Philippine past and present Presidents whom up to now does not measure up to what President Marcos has done, but three-fold worst on what they have accused him. President Marcos has big plans for the Philippines and his people, whom many does not and will never know. It got derailed due to a circumstance which his enemies took advantage and used many misinformed and illiterate people and betrayed them after. You have no idea yourself obviously or you would not be writing this. Unless you are one of the fools and continuously getting fooled. Tell the truth next time. You can’t cover the obvious and can’t fool everybody.
No one failed him, in fact, the people voted him twice. What are you talking about?

I fear you are hacking at trees and missing the forest. I cited the various presidents to illustrate that there is no perfect leader. Indeed, I gave Reagan due respect, and was hardly critical. So you are pro-Marcos. You have a view of matters that is so far afield from mine, I fear that there is not much sense in trying to strive for understanding. This is not a war. It is a forum to project ideas, preferably constructive.

I think the comments on this blog only shows the irrationality of the President’s critics. Kudos to you, Joe, for keeping your cool. It’s tempting to match the vitriol being spewed by these anti-Aquino trolls, but I’m afraid I don’t have the energy for nonsensical arguments. Haha. Have a great day, Joe.

Why do those who only saw “two cows” or maybe no cow at all have to shout so loud? Browsing through the invasion of newcomers, I only read a lot of repetition of things I heard so often before (result of plagiarism?) Just like those still insisting that the world is flat and created 7000 years ago with Jerusalem at the center. Some models / theories are difficult to align with facts, so the obvious reaction is to shout.

I propose they spent their energy in visiting all foreign embassies, all rating agencies, all foreign journalists and all foreign investors to explain them that their positive opinion of the current administration is misled. That the only road forward for this country is the return of Marcos or at least GMA.

Bribing and having backhand negotiations with senators to oust a Chief Justice he simply didn’t like. An SC decision allowed “midnight” appointees, and the SC of that time didn’t reverse that, even if it’s obviously not allowed under the Constitution.

Slow land reform.

The gall to blame the Tacloban mayor instead of doing his job and actually making sure that relief was handled properly.

How about rising poverty incidence while there’s growth in the economy? I guess the middle to upper class have lots of respect for a president who has fattened their pockets. How about selective enforcement of justice? What has been done about those containers that magically disappeared under the nose of a Customs Commissioner whom the President coddled despite his incompetence (i.e., consistently missing targets, and those containers, of course)? What about the BIR Commissioner who is always on the headlines but has also consistently missed collection targets? How about the DSWD Secretary whose people sold to various supermarkets donated items for typhoon victims? Shouldn’t the incompetent be fired by now? I concede that this President has done some good but his administration reeks of rabid partisanship and unequal implementation of the law, a persecution of political opponents while coddling cronies, that his actions are destructive to the politics of this country. Why are there people who unceasingly attack the President? Because there are those who are so blind to his mistakes, they think the good he does balances the bad. Public service is not about balancing the good works with the bad. Cutting the President some slack is warranted when the errors are accidental and unforeseen. You can’t cut someone some slack for deliberate actions that are inimical to public interests. Of course, you cut him some slack if you are a nut-hugger

When was it that policemen/military became abusive on their positions/powers?… during martial law… so is it something new that it’s still happening until now?… Why do we tend to blame the government about poverty? Is it them who didn’t gave you a chance to study or you’re the one who doesn’t want to study? I can still hear a lot of inspiring stories in the provinces that they became successful because of patience and perseverance in life and I think that applies to everyone who’s successful even thought working locally. Simply, you’re making your own destiny and no one is to blame whatever/wherever/whoever are you right now. You should be driving your own future.

Right. The sequence of events to end poverty is (1) stabilize the country and end the culture of corruption, (2) build an economy that is capable of generating more wealth, (4) write new laws that serve the people better, and (4) provide more opportunity for the poor to get jobs that pay. That’s exactly what Mr. Aquino is working at. The incessant tear-down mentality and failure to respect people works against this.

@ Lisander. That is more realistic, I believe, Since I found that information is true, honestly. Hahaha. The sequence of events to end poverty as what Joe said is not really happening in the real Philippines world. There’s not proof that the Mr. Aquino is doing that. Hahaha lol

WOW, awesome how the Marcos and Arroyo trolls are ganging up on you and how you stand on your ground. I wonder how much money are paid to these trolls, if Marcos and Arroyo are their sources of main income, wealth and lifestyle. Before they become hysterical on the uprightness and achievements of PNoy, have they looked, checked, investigated, and analyzed the first year and onward years ( up to end of terms) of Marcos and Arroyo which were absolutely and fully littered with astronomical corruption, gargantuan ill gotten wealth, erroneous and despicable government projects, programs and laws that dehumanized the common Juan dela Cruz. THESE TROLLS ARE ABSOLUTELY GOBBLYDEGOOK. THEY DO NOT KNOW WHAT THEY ARE TALKING, JUST TALK, FOR THE SAKE OF TALKING. You are right Joe, best to ignore them. Throw them in the bin, the best place for them.

I agree with you in the estimation of PNoy, the best president Philippines has ever have. Marcos and Arroyo have never achieved what PNoy has achieved and done so much to improve the lot of Philippines. More PNoy please

Well, letlet, they are entitled to their say. I just presume them to have an agenda that makes them more interested in talking than listening. Some may be cognitively or emotionally challenged, and courtesy is a foreign word. At some point they do earn their way into the “ignore as irrelevant” bucket. Or if they get wild, I have a cute red delete button I can push.

Thanks for adding your voice, Sasa. Yes, I thought his handling of the Sultan’s misbehavior was very done. Calm. Firm. Law-based. Respecting Malaysia and the well-being of the greater Philippine Muslim community.

Law-based? Lol. He handed the heads of those Filipino citizens to the Malaysians in a silver platter. Try to do a research again on the history of the Sabah claim. You’ll understand. You’ll find out how the past great presidents tried to do their best to claim back Sabah. Then things went down the drain when Ninoy Aquino committed treason by divulging Marcos’ plans and when Cory Aquino signed the 1987 Constitution dropping the Sabah claim. And here we are now, the President, saying to the Malaysians “go ahead, kill those bastardo Filipino muslims claiming Sabah.” He is a Philippine president, not a Malaysian ambassador.

Joe America, I don’t know why you give these idiots the satisfaction of your replies. If Aquino is not good for the Philippines, as all economic and statistical indicators have shown, then who is? I l want to know who these idiots think is good enough to run this country.

I give people who disagree with me the satisfaction of a reply because it is best to strive for respect, even if it is sometimes difficult. I’d prefer that you try to restrain yourself, as incivility always begets incivility. It doesn’t build anything.

My 2 cents….In general Pnoy has done more than any of the immediate past presidents since Marcos…If only he had the power and the will to declare martial law to continue what he had started..so that the Pilipino people will not worry who to vote for in 2016…6 years is too short for a good President but too long for a bad one…I also believe that the military will support him if martial law is declared…It is the only way to get rid of all these corrupt congressmen and senators…

I share your frustration at all the blocking actions thrown in his path by those afraid of getting caught for their misdeeds. But I think martial law would not “show” well in the international community and would hinder economic growth. I agree that 6 years is not enough to change a culture, but it will also be good to get refreshed at the top. It is important to vote well. Mr. Aquino need not retire when he is out of office, and any new leader would be wise to seek his counsel.

I agree Mr. JoeAm. I believe Pnoy has done a lot for such a short term, most of which are good. Well, I could say all past Presidents have done a lot during their terms, but ultimately, the only question is, was it mostly good, mostly bad, or just bad [sic if needed] . There is no perfect Presidency as there is no perfect person. What I admire about him is that he isn’t all over media. “Hindi sya nagpapapogi” as politics would word it. He does not use the media to make him look good. He makes himself look good the way he thinks he should. As far as I know, most of the times when Pnoy is involve in a coverage, it is when a fellow politician or a critic is talking BS about him, or when Pnoy gets caught in a bad situation. But I give him credit for being brave enough to face media when he is not in his normal demeanor such as the situation in Tacloban. He didn’t think for a second whether he’d be hated or hated more after reprimanding the mayor who did nothing but wash his hands he claimed to be so clean. That was not politicking people. I don’t think any PR would have approved such action by the President for all of the cameras to see, because generally, it would make him look bad. But he did it and stood by it. No apology. He did it as President. I don’t give a damn if he sounded and appeared as unfair, but was it no unfair that in spite the early warnings of PAGASA and the geographical location of Tacloban which the mayor should have knowledge about, and would have done more preparations for, fell short? Was it fair to throw the blame back to the President when he personally was one who gave PAGASA a thorough scolding because their previous predictions were failures? And now that PAGASA improved, and indeed has been better at their job, we still don’t listen. The mayor did not listen, or maybe he did, but did less than what was needed. He did less than what was needed but it was the President’s fault? He could have just said that he tried his best but his best seem to have failed. It was just right that he was scolded, and it was a little bit out of line, but that was like a father giving his son a bit of scolding so that he can learn, but secretly wished he did not scold him and secretly forgives his son because we all make mistakes. Isn’t that how a President should act? A President who does not look strong but is actually emotionally and psychologically tough. Most people do not regard the PAGASA incident as an accomplishment, but I do, because I can see the changes, the changes that could have happened a few Presidents ago. He is a President who scolds you when you’re wrong and appreciates you when you do right. He punishes you if you are not for the interest of the Republic of the Philippines like in the case of Corona. There are a lot more to say (but I just cannot collect my thoughts properly right now), but to end it, Pnoy is not perfect. He is like you and me. We have our shortcomings. There will be days wherein we just want to sleep the whole day, we don’t want to go to work. Well, we can do that. But even as human as we are, Pnoy just can’t skip a work day, he can be late (we always criticize him for that) but he has to go to work no matter how stressful the President’s life is; no matter how much the citizens hate him or blame him for the biggest to the tiniest things in their lives; no matter how sad his love life be; or how much work he has done the other day; he cannot give up; he has to get up and go to work; because everybody is counting on him, and his critics are counting on his next mistake. He cannot give up. He has to get himself together and face the problems of the Filipinos including the blamers and critics, and try to fix them. With all the BS GMA administration left for Pnoy to solve, I think Pnoy has done so much than expected, most of which were not just good, but great. I don’t ask that we stop criticizing as it will boost the need for improvement, but at least give him credit for the great things he had done. In some days, at least cut him some slack, because he is trying. He is.

It is not disrespect to ask for answers
It is not distrust if we require him to give an account of those days when he met Revilla
It is not wrong to be upset when you hear a leader doing wrong
It is not wishing him to fail, if I ask him to be humble and admit he was wrong

It is not disrespect to ask for answers if the questions are to the point, absent of personal insult, and come attached to a positive premise that there is a better way forward. That is, if it is solutions oriented.

He has given the account. He says he would be remiss in his duty if he allowed Revilla’s vote to be determined by people who wanted a poor Chief Justice to remain on the bench. It was “due course of business” to try to get a vote for impeachment. That’s what a leader does. Influence.

Let’s discuss that wrong in its proper context, rather than use it out of context as a bludgeon.

Interesting. I find him to be a very humble man, but determined. I’m glad you don’t want him to fail.

Wow, this has got to be the most ‘exciting’ comments section in your blog. You actually have people spewing non sequiturs. A few almost got personal. I guess the title of this blog got some people’s attention.

A new day is dawning perhaps? Are they going to be permanent fixtures? 🙂

As they say,.”.the ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy”. President Aquino has shown his mettle in times of several adversities, crisis and disasters which previous presidents sidelined, avoided and brushed under the carpet. We have to give Caesar what is due to Caesar.

I prayed fervently to God to give Philippines a president who has integrity and who will lead the country in the right pathway whenever I joined pilgrimages ( France – Our Lady of Lourdes, Portugal- Our Lady of Fatima, Vatican, Rome and Holy Land) in the past years. I believe President Aquino is God’s answer to our ( Filipinos) prayers.

It pained me to read this blogged as i cannot swallow the comparisons and points made by Joe.
While I cannot argue that PNoy might be a good man, you cannot deny that at times when leadership and action is needed this good man falls short.
The Philippines does not need senadors bashing against each other trying to sabotage the one next, nor a president going against a predecessor or the chief justice.
As a Filipino, i dont see how these things would do me any good at present or the near future.
What I need my government and president to do is to resolve issues that affects my life and my family’s.
There is a 4% inflation rate this year, highest so far for several years. What this translates to is that what i eat has become more expensive, my electricity bill is looming to steeply increase or possibly face a series of black outs, tuition fees exponentially increasing, basic transportation is scheduled to be more expensive than ever.
For the last four years, i cant say that its getting any better.
Neither do i see that he and his government is focus on the right things to make the right changes.
Lastly, i dont agree on the call for giving a slack. The role of a president is one that is critical. Wrong decisions and lack actions causes lives and huge losses. If you cant do it, then have the decency to leave the post and give it to someone capable.
I give a third of my salary to the government and have anchored my future to this country. I do what i can to help in this country be better.
Filipinos deserve better

Thanks JoeAm for expressing my own thoughts so clearly. No thanks to the naysayers with their suspect agenda. I thought mine was just gut feel. But now I know he is truly a good president. It’s nice to be able to feel good about your President after decades of disappointment,

I was not here for anybody but Arroyo, so don’t have such first-hand experience. All I know is that President Aquino far exceeded my expectations and indeed has been especially impressive about being cool and principled under fire. We could all complain about this or that, but what kind of world is it if we expect others to pattern themselves only on our thinking?

Excellent piece! Exactly my thoughts as well. I share the call to action to educate the masses to expand the “daang matuwid” constituency. Problem with blogs is it is often stuck with the educated and converted. I suggest you or someone with the gift of being a good writer translate this in local languages and share in the letter to the editor section of tabloids and in social media. Or a similar piece in local languages.

My 208 words in Visayan wouldn’t get me very far, but I’d welcome anyone translating this or other writings. But you are definitely right, someone has to speak to the broad constituency about the benefits of voting well, and the losses if votes are thrown away.

I only got the satisfaction of writing about an idea that seems important, that we have the grace and courtesy to respect others who might come down on an issue differently than us. Too much dirt is in the air and I think many Filipinos buy in to it without recognizing the very high caliber of leadership they have, and the peculiar demands on a person trying to go straight in a culture that is crooked and where influential people wend power and favor like money.

One thing that strikes me about Aquino is that he has no vision and rules (not governs), rules, by the ebb and flow of the political tide. As for you praising him… “not bowed to agenda-bound, manipulative criticism”… not all criticism is “manipulative” and there is valid criticism, problem is he cannot distinguish one from the other.

He did make changes. My mother who works in COA can attest to that. She used to have a hard time doing her job because of corrupt practices which included her previous supervisors. She likes their Commissioner because corruption is banned already, including personal business during office hours. I was aware of the misappropriation of funds because I used to help her make the spreadsheets for financial statements.

I do like how this article is written. However you can do the same format with any president our country had. anyone can even do a version for estrada. my point is of course anyone will look good if you point out the good things they have done, but its not necessary to make our president look like he is the best that we ever had.Its always easy to justify things that you like better. Over all the article somehow made me feel like.. hmmm its like this “hey Red is just a great color here are the reasons..so stop criticising color red, red is better than all the others colors” you see its so easy to make something we believe as the truth or a fact. fact is he is an okay president not great, he just like all the other president we had. everyone has their strength and weaknesses. but i do like it when you point out that this country is nurturing a culture that is so critical of everything. I believe you made a good point there. But at the end of the day he is the president he should be respected just like anyone should be respected. but respect doesnt mean he shoudnt be criticise to the fullest. and being criticise is part of it. again he is just an okay president no need to play favourites and convince people that he is a great president just because you like him and he is just great in your own perspective. I may not agree with some of your points. but still good article. Kudos 🙂

Thanks for overlaying some refinement on the basic argument, Beejay. You are right. A positive case could be made for any president . . . to a point, and the point is when they are confirmed to have self-dealt against the greater well-being of the nation. I took down my tweet-blog, but I stated that I would support VP Binay 100% if he were elected President. I might criticize some of his specific acts, but if he got the votes, he deserves the nation’s backing. Until the election, I will advocate for someone who is not such a favor-trading wheeler dealer of questionable judgment.

You laid out arguments in support of your admiration to Noy2. And that’s laudable. However, in your way of admiring him, you overlook several things. Let me point some. Sincerity and honesty should not be confused to good, competent, and efficient government. So far Noy2 has displayed nothing of that sort. Demands? Yes, he made demands, but what kind? Relevant, materialI, sound and intelligent? Have not seen any. You look at the Yolanda disaster with a myopic eye and just concentrated on the Mayor of Tacloban. Open your eyes, be broad minded. Did you try to anlayze the preparation? What kind? Judge that preparation by the results. During and in the aftermath of Yolanda; what kind of leadership did Noy 2? None, Nada! If at all, reflective of his leadership, his underlings displayed incompetence, inefficiency and ignorance in the way they handled everything from the distribution of aid (some hoarding and stealing those aids), dessimination of information, the obvious lack of organization, poor if not absence of management. They can’t even count correctly as to how many perished, even at this date and time. Yes Noy2 will be judged by history, unfortunately, Yolanda has a lot to do with such a decision. If his mother and father were alive today, he would have run to them for help, guidance and protection. BTW is your name really Joe America? Or it is one of those pseudonyms you conveniently hide your true self?. If it is I am Juan Filipino.

Joe really got your goat, huh? Why don’t you put a soap in your mouth and think about what you just did? You just nastily used your freedom of speech so let him have his.
Leave this civil forum to people with decorum. You and your ilk do not belong here.

Are you describing yourself? LIke what I said, anybody can claim anything about himself but until proven that is just bragging; lot of” hot air” some say. And they way you are handling yourself, you are beyond the bounds of human decency and social decorum. You must be one of the banana lovers.

I am. Yes I do. I’m originally from a farm in Colorado, USA, where I got good grades in school and engaged in a lot of athletics (baseball, swimming, basketball). I got a bachelors in Mathematics in Colorado, served in the army in Viet Nam, moved to Los Angeles, got a master’s degree in Radio and Television Arts, went into banking and rose to a senior executive position in marketing and planning where I did a lot of special project work (acquisitions, new products, selling businesses, advising and writing speeches for the President). That took up 30 years. I’ve been married a few times, traveled to 21 countries, have three kids in the US (grown) and one in the Philippines (young). I’ve engaged in the Philippines since 2005, and have lived in Northern Mindanao, Zambales and now Biliran in the Visayas. My credentials are a good brain, lots of experience, and a fairly decent way with the keyboard. Kind of you to ask. 🙂

i am 32 yrs old.. grew up in Philippines.. don’t have much good grades in school.. no certificates… got involved in PH for 32yrs, and lived and worked in Dubai for 4years.. all thru those years I never had seen a good president.. and i am not expecting the perfect president… but if you would have to list of all the things that the past and current PH presidents have done, you might be shocked that your choice of President for PH won’t be on top of the list… and by the way, i don’t need to be that smart to know how bad the governance is.. you just have to survive to tell the tales… and if you research more for the roots of these problems, you might also be shocked to find his mother’s name…

Thanks for the real-life perspective, musiklaber. Indeed, there are problems with governance in the Philippines. Credentials for service are who you know, not skill at managing a nation. Crooks abound, and weasels who deny any responsibility for anything. Cory Aquino started with a royal flourish and as time took its toll, so did her own lack of executive training and the tough pressures of being caught between powerful oligarchs, political gameplayers, vested interests (the Church), and the people. Her fade is in contrast to her son’s durability and growth in office. He has gotten stronger, keeps a firm hand on crises, and runs a responsible cabinet.

Responsbile cabinet? By whose standards? If it is Noy 2 maybe I’ll agree. It is the worst cabinet in the history of this country. Half of them know nothing but to get rich. Look at all the names who are rumored to scandals, smuggling, and looting the national treasury. For example, DA’s Alcala and his right hand man Calayag. Roxas, what did he do? Messed up everything on Yolanda, creating a disaster worse than Yolanda. De Lima? Well she is about to be cited with court contempt and may lose her license to practice law. Lacierda? He doesn’t know at all what he is talking about and so with Valte. Immigration is a mess, so with Customs and Henares have a hard time increasing revenues. How about Abad, the genius behind the DAP or presidential pork barrel? The smallest province in the Philippines got almost aal pork barrel and all kinds of monetary bonanza, close to 1 billion because Abad is from there, the wife is the congresswoman, the daughter is a Presidential assistant and the sone is Chief of Staff of DOF (wereh the money comes from).. And we have the DWSD Dinky Soliman who couldt be the brain behind all those aids being hoarded and sold at affluent stores. Need I say more?

How can we verify all of these?. You said, you went to school in Colorado; any names? University of Colorado for example, or the Air Force Academy? Got a Masters degree where? You said L.A.; got any name? UCLA, USC, Stanford? Worked in a bank? What bank? Wells Fargo, Bank of America, or J.P. Morgan Chase? Your credentials might say something about you but it doesn’t prove that you are brainy or have all those experience that you claim you have. Saying something is easy, proving it is quite different and you know that.

Why is this so important to you? So you can use his personal information to attack him? Why don’t you publish your pertinent personal info here for all of us to see? If you want to invade his privacy, then you should authorize the invasion of yours too. Why are you hiding behind a handle too?

Who are you? A paid apologist to this Mr. America? I was not the one that bragged credentials on a very general info and vague terms. School records, in terms of where you did your schooling is a public record. So with places of work and employers. These are not private information. I would be proud to tell everybody who my al mater are, where I worked and earned an honest living but I was only asking for proof of what he claim he is if in fact those claims and asertions were true.. Apparently you are ignorant of such facts, but then I can understand. Anybody can say this and that, who I claim to be, like you can claim you are god or something but like what I said, bragging of something about you without proof is just that “bragging”. I did not say I am this and that, nor did I say, I was schooled from somewhere and conferred a PHD or something. Neither did I claim that I worked somewhere. Your Mr. America did, so let him come out with provable facts and not just claims. Name names and just don’t make blanket assertions for anybody can do that. On the other hand, I noticed that you are quite a defender of this Mr. America that I suspect you are one and the same. And my name is really Rome Yao.

That’s an intrusion of privacy if you really want to see a proof of Mr. Joe’s personal credentials We are in the internet forum that everyone can read what we are writing about our personal backgrounds. Hackers are everywhere. We don’t want to inform them who we really are. We have to respect every internet user’s privacy. What you see, is what you get. BTW, I still believe in the good leadership of Pres. Pnoy in trying to unite the Filipino people. But the expected government reforms cannot be done overnight. Of course. Pres. Pnoy committed some lapses in his decisions citing some of them about the granting of additional pork barrel for Senators and Congressmen just to impeached CJ Corona. His blunder move in the Mamasapano military operation which was found to be poorly executed by the PNP-SAF. However, nobody is perfect in this world as what some wise men says.
Can anybody give me a name of a Filipino politician or non-politician that you think could be the next President of the Phil after Pres, Pnoy?

Thanks for the defense, Rhey. Contrary to most who wrack their brains to find the PERFECT president and come up empty handed, I believe the office makes the man (or woman), and if that person is of sound fundamentals, he/she can run the nation well. So my list of qualified people includes: Senators Cayetano, Poe, Escudero, Manny Villar, Sec. Roxas, Sonny Angara . . .possibly Leni Robredo . . . maybe one or two others who escape my mind. Perfection does not exist. Not Duterte or Santiago, as they are too erratic. Not Binay.

@Rome Yao (?)
I am not Joe and unlike you, I do not ask for payment to defend people I respect. You should not invade one’s privacy if you do not want yours invaded. Any info that is personally identifiable is private information.
Look at the forest, not the trees. Attack the ideology that Joe presented that you did not agree with. Do not attack Joe as a person but rather the idea he expressed that you feel is wrong.

I am not attacking him. He made some claims, For him to be believeable and not considered gullible, he must provide proof of what he claim he is. It is simple as that. I can claim that I am somebody but if you believe me without myself proving it then you are the sucker.

Keep on believing then. I have my own way, you have yours. I don’t tell you what to believe or not believe. Whether you agree with my style or not, it doesn’t matter to me nor it shall change my way of proving things.m To me, to see is to believe. My measurement of integrity is totally different from yours. So go on your merry way and I go mine. So far, following my system has not yet led me astray.

Oh, you couldn’t be more wrong. I’ve been married to a psychic, two geniuses, an agnostic, a devout Christian, a Singaporean, a Filipino, a sex-pot, a homemaker, an executive, a Doctor of Literature . . . and more. I chose right, for sure. I remain friends with all. I fear you have lost a cow or two somewhere along your woebegotten path. And the point of the article is not as much about Noynoy Aquino as it is about supporting the Philippines and its leadership. You, I gather, favor being divisive and negative about your homeland.

I think cross-cultural envy or arguments are fairly useless. What is important is what we, or I, as a people determine are the principles that are best to live by, and then adopting the wisdom, follow-through and determination to stick with them.

Blame the Filipino people for the failure of the Philippines to rise up from the culture of criticism. Filipinos never seem to be completely satisfied. Why don’t the common Juan (who always has something bad to say) run for president – and I hope he wins – so that one day he will inevitably eat his words on how the President is always a failure and has never done anything right. We don’t have to like the president, but he sure does deserve our respect. We want to change, we start by giving due respect to the people leading this country.

Thanks for this blog. It’s a great reflection of how our lack of self-respect is reflected on how we treat our leaders.

Thank you maan. Give the critics one day in President Aquino’s office and they would be making horrid knee-jerk, uninformed decisions, and would have the whole nation crying for their hides. In about two weeks they would be babbling for mercy. It would be wise if they at least tried to imagine walking in another’s shoes.

How can you blame the filipino people if they were deprived education in the first place? The vote of someone who does not know how to read and write is only equivalent to the vote of someone who had a masters degree. I bet you, the ratio of uneducated is far more than the educated. How can you blame the uneducated if the only information they can get on who to vote is the mass media? I think we must first address to reform the constitution on order to have a competent leader. Nuisance candidates left and right are running for president to divide the votes. Now tell me, blame the filipino people?

Yes. I still blame the Filipino people. Respect begins at home and is reinforced within your community (extended family, school, work). If people cannot give the genuine respect that leaders deserve – regardless of whether they were elected or appointed – I don’t think there’s hope in getting away from that culture of criticism.

As far as education is concerned, please explain to me how educated people cannot give that respect, and those who lack education, can.

And where this culture of criticism started? On his FIRST privileged speech in senate, Ninoy Aquino criticized the first lady, take note of that, the first lady, not the president. It is were his popularity all started so he keeps on doing so till his last breath. How about Pnoy? kilan ba siya nagtalumpati ng hindi nagpatama o nanisi ng ibang tao? Siya lang alam kung popular na leader na puro paninisi, paninira sa kapwa tao ang laging laman ng talumpati

you got that right! the article is really good but the comments are better to read. i just can feel the anger from some of the comments and If Mr. Joe America is not a regular blogger, I bet he’ll be deleting his blog or replying to every comment he has. hehe

Joe, how about you write about the REAL situation here in the Philippines. Actually we are already advance in many ways in the 80’s but somehow lost it all in a one-big-shot-down of a President that was Cory. Yes there was no President that could be said Great, they don’t really deserve it. A BETTER President could be accepted. And all of them are Pre-Cory Presidents, after she sat, all is doomed. Well to make it short, respect is to be earned, we humans could evolve by helping each other, but the culture instilled to the Filipinos are to drag every countrymen down. Presidents should be prepared for that. And words are great, even to those who just watch TVs and stuffs, because they can’t feel the REAL thing that is happening and thus ignoring the real story and TRUTH. Just my two cents

These names besides being trapos are synonymous to something undesirable. Panfilo allegely a crook dressed in a saintly garb. Miraim has some mental problems, and Alan know nothing but the color of money. Try Gibo Teodoro.

@Deogracias Gatapandan, I think your suggestions are reasonable. I suppose however, Rome’s acid response makes my point. No matter who you identify, someone will attack them with no mercy. The problem is not with the individual chosen to be president, but the hostile culture of criticism in which they must work. Thanks at least for stepping up with an answer. Most do not have the courage to do that.

In that time, the bataan nuclear plant was constructed, the Philippines is the only country in South East Asia to have an International Airport, Filipino Culture is at its high, LRT, hospitals and other infrastructures to name a few.

LRT is badly planned. This is because the places where stations are placed were not acquired by the government. This central places provide the rent that would make a well functioning transit system possible. This is how HK and SG have such nice train systems. The malls near the stations actually pay rent.

i do get mad specially at all the incompeten )presidents men.criticism is good.tokeep you alert.its people who elect you so you dont criticize their criticism or demands.greatest good greatest number game.president should not be blamed for all the fiasco. Not even the Yolanda affair.we have the presidents men.but glaring failure is not acceptable and resignation most honorabl or npbsing sacked.othetwise

Criticism CAN be an important force for change, or it can be destructive. I think we need to think about who is doing the criticism and decide if it is worth listening to. It is worth listening to if it is based on good principles, is presented constructively, backed up with facts or good argument, is not just an attack on people to try to diminish them. That is what disturbs me. Filipinos wishing to diminish their president . . . as if that would help the nation get healthy and defend itself. I have the same complaint about a lot of Americans.

Very well written JA. I remember seeing your comments on several political blogs a few years ago. I don’t even remeber these blogs now as I grew tired of all the negativism specially with that guy benignO. Indeed, the country is extremely polarized. Filipinos can’t seem to find the courage to rally behind a good leader. We always feel that we are so much better. I’m afraid te same thing is happening to the US right now. Truly sad.

Well, good to hear from you Markymark. I got banned on benign0’s GRP so decided I’d establish my own blogging platform. It has been highly educational for me, as readers here are typically thoughtful and constructive, and it is a good place to practice writing. 🙂

I agree with you. What do we give in return? My view is, yes, we do have a government. Yes, we expect our officials to take care of certain things for us. But that shouldn’t give us the excuse to just sit and stare with our mouths open waiting for grace and blessings. What do we give in return? Maybe we need to be better Filipinos.

you look at the good side of Pres. Aquino..and I can do the same to Pres. Arroyo because I liked her toughness and how she resolves bad news.. at the end of the day, it’s really what you accomplished as a president that matters. what did Pres Aquino accomplished so far? i only know that he’s always talking against his political enemies.

His political enemies are largely those charged with crimes. I’m glad he is talking against them. The international recognition of the Philippine economic growth, improved financial condition (improved debt ratings), reduced corruption, and improved competition, says he is doing much, much more than President Arroyo. Plus he is on the edge of a lasting peace in Mindanao and has the courage to stand up to China (rather than bow as Ms. Arroyo did re. Spratleys).

“International recognition of the Philippine economic growth, improved financial condition (improved debt ratings), reduced corruption, and improved competition, says he is doing much, much more than President Arroyo.”

Wall Street Journal. Forbes. New York Times. S&P press releases. Transparency International publications. You are about the most worthless commenter who has entered my blog in the 4 years I’ve been at it. Nothing constructive. Sharpshooting others. Insulting people. Congratulations on your fine distinction.

Thanks for the compliment. I’ve read those papers also. In fact, I read the 2008 back issue of Fortune magazine yesterday. Reminiscing about the near collapse of AIG and complete disintigration of Lehman Brothers.

Did you already researched on the ownership of SWS and False Asia? How about the Jabidah Massacre as well as the recent decision of the Supreme Court re: Hacienda Luisita? The Aquino family’s treachery – from the president’s grandfather to his father?

The president of Pulse Asia is Dr. Ronald Holmes. He was my professor in several subjects at De La Salle University. He was also my thesis mentor. I hold Dr. Holmes in very high regard. He is a man of high integrity and had a low tolerance for cheating. He was a no nonsense guy and a true professional. Believe me, he is not an Aquino fan and will be the last person to be used by an Aquino or any vested interest for that matter. I will be very shocked if there was proof that he has sold out.

SWS and Pulse Asia have very high standards in their methodology. The SWS has been awarded by MY World of the United Nations. Both SWS and Pulse Asia have been hired by big multinational corporations to do research. They’ve been pretty consistent with survey results and election results, unless of course you believe the elections are already fixed. If both survey organisations are biased for the Aquino administration, why do they continue to post unfavourable survey results like the increase in hunger, poverty and unemployment? I wonder, if the both survey orgs show a survey result with PNoy having a negative rating, would people still demean it by trying to link it to ownership of his relatives?

No matter what Joe, some people refuse the see the herd of cows. Does the word ‘delusion’ ring a bell? I think it’s time Joe to verify email accounts in the comments section of your blog and only real people can log on and comment. I used to think this political/journalistic blog was one of the few which was ‘troll-free’ with a high standard of exchange on opinions. There’s nothing wrong with criticism and ideas that don’t agree with yours a health debate/discussion, but if this criticism has gone to the point of destruction and I believe that it has somewhat destroyed this blogpost, its time to get rid of it.

I feel your pain, and appreciate your defense of the polls. See my remark in the right column. Banning comments is a slippery slope I don’t want to go down, and verifying e-mails is a little too “NSA” for me. Just ignore him. He’ll go away soon. If he persists in infesting other threads, I’ll ban him. I do not want this blog to descend to the level of trite insult you find in teen-age chat rooms. Give him space to make a fool of himself for a bit.

What economic growth? Improved financial conditions? Wake up. Talk to the people. The cliche, the rich is getting richer and the poor geeting poorer is truly prevalent and obvious as Noy2 administration gets older. Reduced corruption? Who are you trying to convince? Have you dealt with the national government lately? To get things done, you have to bribe your way through. Lasting peace in Mindanao? That will never happen. The Spaniards tried it, the Americans miserably failed and almost all administration tried and so far no result but failure. As for China, that is the only thing Noy2 can do. What has he got to use against China. So do the obvious. Keep quiet and wait for the result of the international arbitration. There is one thing aside from the Yolanda debacle that he will be known for. All the failure of his administration, he has somebody to blame. GMA.

when PNoy got elected as president, I only have one expectation.. as long as he is not corrupt, he has my respect. With him in the helm, I have not heard of fertilizer scams, midnight appointments, gambling incidents, overpriced building structures, overpriced travel bills, irritating family members ( well, Kris is already irritating before he became president), or the like, that are directly related to him. There’s a lot to be said about that particularly in a country full of corrupt coldhearted politicians, who continue to get my taxes and are essentially useless.

Ahahaha, Kris is Kris. I like her as she is fundamentally a good person, if a tad complex. We corresponded by e-mail some time back and she was very forthright and personable.

The environment the President works in is indeed swimming with sharks and alligators. That’s another reason he earns my respect. Not too many people could run a stable government in the chaos others like to create. Especially the corrupt, who gain by destabilizing things.

respect shall be given to him as a person (as much as we give respect to anybody else) and president of the country . i hope he also does…his position is crucial and not a place where one can have his ojt while being with his advisers whose main concern is not evident if beneficial for the people… no perfect president and never will be but we are hoping that Filipino people are the real boss…with his administration, i don’t think so…

Compared to Estrada who sold us to his friends and compared to GMA who old us to anyone with money, i like this President better. This President will not dare besmirch the good name of his parents nor blemish the legacy of his parents. I daresay that if he runs again for public office, he will have the support of our clan all throughout.

Joe, sorry to take back my previous apology accusing you of being yellow because you just admitted it here. YOU are YELLOW through and through and you and your clan will support anybody as long as it chosen by the gods of the yellow. Sorry for using “it”, just want to emphasize the point that you and your kind will support whoever or whatever will be your chosen one. Nice try though :).

Great read. Nice analysis. The Philippines, in the eyes of majority of Filipinos, neither never had a perfect president nor had a “good” one either. Lahat mali. Lahat may criticisms – which may be good- coz it inspires our leaders to be better. BUT we must learn to give credit where credit is due. Think before we talk. Research and study before we give opinions – huwag umasa sa news or tsismis lang. Otherwise, this country will always be a developing one.

Lislander is a classic troll, winning honors as the worst commenter ever to appear in a blog thread here at the Society in the four years I’ve been at it. His (her?) aim is simply to be a pest and rile people up. I appreciate your recognition that some people here have departed from the respectful commentary that generally takes place here.

Does a mature president respond to criticism negatively and blame past presidents?
If he is to be respected then why does he always blame and never accept his incompetencies?
I was one of his supporters but it seems that he is the most UNFIT president ever.

“I accept that people are going to call me awful things every day, and I will always defend their right to do so” – Barack Obama.

Noy232, your complaint registers with me, actually. He is overly sensitive to criticism. But I don’t think that of itself is a reason to declare him unfit. I would welcome your suggestion of a realistic candidate for President who is not bound in the Filipino traditions of blaming and excuse making.

The strategy of this article is one of fallacy and misdirection. A common ploy which invites and divides opinion. Is it working as an article? Does the title catches attention? Yes and yes. It does not however convince me on swaying. in the least, my opinion of Mr. Aquino as Philippine president: wanting. I will never give him ‘some slack’ because the lives and future of people are at stake. And that goes for any public servant. The Philippine figures have gone up not because Mr Aquino implemented some drastic reform but because major countries in the rest of the world had a slump. You want to give credit to Mr, Aquino for that? When his character and conviction as a leader was put to the test, he failed, honestly. He has ridden the Aquino surname to shreds, surely others will follow his effective strategy. As a clan member he deserves laurels but as a President, your respect will probably do just fine.

Well, Jonathan, we all look at things through intellectual glasses tinted by our own experiences, knowledge, emotions and beliefs. I choose to tilt mine toward the positive because it is just so blasted tiresome dealing with all the crabbiness hereabouts. If you look for negative, you’ll find it, if you look for positive, you’ll find it. I see him put to the test and winning more than failing. His handling of some of the crises has been downright brilliant for its firm discipline and principle (the Sultan, Taiwan, China, Zamboanga, Mindanao agreement). Okay, Tacloban was a little sticky. The bus was a disaster, but he is holding to his principles and not allowing the Philippines to be pushed around by Hong Kong.

I believe the Philippines benefits if more people look for the positive, support it, build it, and stop using diversity as a cause for attack, but as a reason for pride and togetherness. It’s a concept . . .

I envy your patience with these “trolls” JA. Oh Lisander, oh Meheson, oh Noy232 if I would be unfortunate enough to be in banquet with all of you I will gladly drink the poisond tea rather than share a table with you…

Ahahahahaha, so THAT is the source of the authoritative information you want us to be looking for. Ahahahahahahahaha!!! GRP! That respected font of information that economic, legal and social gurus go to first thing in the morning. Wheeeeoooooo!

Judd Roy is the grandson of former Senator Jose Roy, Ninoy’s political nemesis in the old days. Jose Roy headed the NP whose remnants merged with the KBL of Marcos in the Grand Alliance for Democracy (GAD) party after the EDSA revolution.

FR. RANHILLO AQUINO, CONSTITUTIONALIST and San Beda Dean of the Graduate School of Law over DZRH this morning:

Everyone knew that President Aquino was behind the move to impeach CJ Corona and that it was his allies who filed and prosecuted the impeachment case. His secret meetings with Bong Revilla and other senators are HIGHLY UNETHICAL AND ILLEGAL.

“No law has been passed to authorize or legalize DAP and the funds released under the said mechanism, thus clearly violating the above-cited constitutional provision,” the resolution said. In a TV news report the same day it was filed, Constitution expert and priest Joaquin Bernas said that only items that are already existing in the budget can be augmented.”

“Just like Senator Jinggoy Estrada, who disclosed the bribery of the Senate through what later became known as Aquino’s and Abad’s Disbursement Acceleration Program, Revilla will be pilloried for being motivated by self-preservation by the palace and its media minions. Revilla, Estrada and Senator Juan Ponce Enrile, after all, have been singled out as having directly benefited from the pork barrel scandal.”

But what cannot be denied is an apparently clear policy of arm-twisting and bribery by Malacañang in the Corona case, which the Palace has always said is Congress’ independent action. These are very serious charges against Aquino, Roxas, Abad and their confederates—charges that should not be snowed under by the usual Palace propaganda efforts.”

Truth: It is hard to find even but on honest-to-goodness infrastructure that the present haughty and conceited administration has built — all glowing speeches and glorious perorations to the contrary.

The status of the Philippine Economy can be diagnosed and consequently pronounced accordingly by the fruit of imagination, the result of ambivalent (confused and confusing) perception or the truth on ground reality

Such differences in appreciation basically depend on whether it is the administration itself that makes the evaluation, or it is this or that survey that issues the pronouncement; or it is the people in general who live in economic times and actually speak about it.

When the administration makes its own official appraisal, the Philippine economy is not simply promising but even amazing. This is the fruit of imagination.

Typical yellow response to valid criticisms and never finding faults to their chosen ones. That we, the thinking class, should all just shut up and let them be because we are not helping the country if we criticize their government however legitimate our views and observations were. But lo and behold, these same people who tells us to shut up does the same thing, and worst, even resorts to unconstitutional means just to be in power.

Well, I’m certainly not telling you to shut up. I would dearly love to read a rational, balanced opposing view. Not a slapdash of accusations, miss-truths and slanders thrown against the wall as discourse. And frankly, I resent being painted as “yellow” because I advocate that Filipinos become more positive about their nation and their president. That you describe yourself as “the thinking class” rather insults those who might think differently than you. As if they were the “non-thinking” class. That seems arrogant and condescending to me.

Glad to hear you’re not yellow though you sounded like one. Wish you could show me an article showing the same passion for a Philippine president as you have shown here. I would really like to believe what you’ve said that you were just advocating positive outlook in leadership regardless of their color affiliation. Only then would I be 100% convinced that you are not yellow. And I am sorry if I hurt your feelings. I just hope you would stop sounding yellow so you will not be accused of being one.

Skepticism is healthy. When 2016 rolls around, you can bet that I will do a blog supporting the President no matter who it is. No hurt feelings at all, so no worries there. Thanks for stopping by to comment.

Hi Joe, I totally agree to what your are pointing in your blog. I recognize both its merits but I also recognize the need for appropriate criticism. It is upon us individuals to create what we want out of the future. Slurs and personal attacks does not have a place in healthy discourse. My favorite philosopher and scientist Rudolf Steiner indicates the conditions of the foundation of a healthy society ” A Healthy Society can only be found when in the mirror of each human soul the whole community finds its reflection and when in the community the virtue of each one is living”. Again, thank you Joe for your gift of perspective.

I agree that constructive criticism is essential. It leads to change. But we must be aware of two problems with unrestrained criticism: (1) If criticism of an an incident is taken to represent criticism of the whole of a man, it is an inaccurate portrayal of the whole of the man, and (2) a “pile on” of unrelenting criticism, without offsetting honorable recognition of positives, is destabilizing and also inaccurate. That said, I agree with your basic statement. Criticism is needed. Thank you for your gift of an important point.

What an idiot! U compare this mediocre pres to the great ones in washington, jefferson etc.? Any average mind who can read and write is capable of what aquino did as a pres. Because he havent done shit. Only history can judge aquino and im sure he will be remembered as the most hypocrite, and most incompetent leader ever elected though i cant help but to doubt the reliability of PCOS.

I hate this president. I did not even vote for him, but I love my country more, so ,I guess I have to embrace this leadership and give him the support that he need to keep the boat sailing. But this doesn’t mean he’s a great leader or an outstanding president, not even close and will never be.

Joe, just have to repost this coz I’d like to see your reply on these choices of mine 🙂

Anybody who does not divide the nation by wearing yellow or a yellow ribbon instead of the Philippine flag pinned to his garments would be a good candidate. I also prefer a VISIONARY and an effective ADMINISTRATOR and not a TELEVISIONARY who utilize showbiz government nor an ADMINIS-TRAITOR who sells out his people to the interest of the rich and the powerful. If you would choose not to be yellow, BONGBONG MARCOS is a prime candidate because of his demeanor and what he had done in Ilocos Norte. RODRIGO DUTERTE of Davao is also a good choice because he is a tough administrator. Filipinos thrive in other countries because they follow rules by a government that strictly implements its laws. JOJO BINAY is also a good candidate based on what he had accomplished in Makati. BAYANI FERNANDO would have been a good candidate because he too is a good administrator and his big accomplishments in Marikina. Wouldn’t mind also if Sen PANFILO LACSON also joins the fray for his accomplishments as PNP Chief. Sadly, MAR ROXAS on the other hand can kiss his bid for the presidency goodbye mainly because of two women, Yolanda and Korina.

Agree, But articles like this would help. The truth is, I like your article because it’s positive. So hats off to you for this. The only issue I have is that I always read articles and comments like this from the yellows when their government is faced with legitimate issues, You sounded yellow and however you try to deny it or camouflage it, I still smell yellow. Maybe what I’m trying to say to you is to continue with your ways, but be color blind and avoid replying with “Yep. My clan’s too. (My wife’s vote.)” on a blogger’s comment that his clan will support the yellows (Aquinos) all throughout. But hey dude! I’m a fan! And I like the color yellow! But I am just sick and tired of these people that wears it and continue to divide the nation by their self-righteousness and their mentality that only them have the monopoly of what is good and what is right for the Philippines.

Well, stick around, Ed. Maybe next week I’ll go on a royal rant against President Aquino and his stubborn failure to give FOI a smooth path. His intransigence is likely to kill the bill in the House, even though his “boss”, the people, are sorely in need of more information.

The best thing about a democracy is that you get the government you deserve. If you do not vote, you get a government that does not care. If you sell your vote, you get a government that can be bought.

I have not fully read all the comments so I may be duplicating some valid points and invalid points that have been shared. Similar to Joe America I grew up in Italy and was schooled in an American International school and I have been living in the Philippines since 1981. Unlike Joe America I am Filipino by birth and my parents are Filipino. One thing I can assure all in this chat is that the three cultures I have experienced (Italian, American – by way of schooling, and Filipino) continuously criticize their governments and seem to only point out the bad. But I would like to share some points. In 1985, when I graduated, Ninoy Aquino had just been assassinated and Marcos was still in power. Our national debt had become so large and our national reserves had become so small all we could do was laugh at it and naively hope that someday my grandchildren would would be able to pay it off. Flash forward to today and despite more than 20 years of so called inept and corrupt governance we can actually pay off our debt with the dollar reserves we have – and I don’t even have a grandchild in sight. Many of the more critical people in this thread probably work in a place that did not exist 20 or 25 years ago (if you work in BGC, Taguig, Eastwood, Rockwell, Ortigas Center and the Metro Cebu and Davao – well you get my drift). Most provincial main roads are cemented and paved and we actually put a president in prison. While I do not doubt that maybe we could have done better, it actually is not so bad. While I still think our current president is acting like a spoiled brat, the question I would like to ask all those who are critical of our government; What have you done to improve our nation other than judge, rant and comment? Because the last time I checked, judging, ranting and commenting destroy not build. 🙂

Interesting background, Paul. You make important points, one being that ALL democracies are based on constructive criticism, and another being that the Philippines is a regular place, just different, as any nation has its distinct character. I did a blog about this a while back. But there is too much edginess in Philippine criticism, to my way of thinking. Too much personal vendetta, too little forgiveness, to much murder. The nation needs a big dose of chill pills. Maybe Abe’s prozac would work.

How true…it took me a long time to adjust and accept – although I still do not understand why – the edginess of our criticism. My latest theory is that it is our way of expressing our love for each other, or maybe I had to much of Abe’s Prozac. Another more famous Abe said “Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man’s character, give him power.” And here is where I am really at a quandary. I personally believe that as a culture we are not ready for democracy. Yet not one person in our current political scenario has shown that he or she will not be corrupted by power. One legacy the Mr. Marcos left us is that when in power you can do no wrong. Our corruption is so deep that those in power feel that it is their right to cheat and steal and it is something they must do – in short they believe that what they are doing is right. I do prefer to live with an “immature” people not ready for democracy rather than one person who is drunk with the power prozac 🙂

For a blogger on Philippine politics, you seem to leave out a few details. Oh but hey I”ll cut you some slack. But just to refresh everyone’s memories, you are wrong on all counts.

Bus Massacre: ” Follow-up was handled well.??Wtf?? De Lima even recommended that Lim and his corrupt best friend Puno answer to administrative charges but what did BS Aquino do? “Kaibigan ko sila wala silang kasalanan!”

Gloria Arroyo: He jailed her immediately. No pardon.Oo dapat lang walang pardon kasi hindi pa siya convicted. Pero take note, BS Aquino’s guest during inauguration is the CONVICTED PLUNDERED HIMSELF ERAP. But cut him some slack there is no perfect president. Just hypocrites.

Appointing Chief Justice Sereno:”defy convention by selecting a junior justice who will seal the Court to integrity for many years.” haha .. of course by voting against Aquino’s side.. everytime. Nice going never-been-a-judge-sereno 🙂

Ampatuan Massacre: He immediately confronted and jailed a powerful warlord. Another ding for glacial justice. But wait. I thought it was Gloria who sent Ampatuan to jail. But don’t let the facts get in the way of your expert blogging.

The Sultan’s Foray into Malaysia: He was firm that the Philippines has no claim on Sabah because his businessman-cousin-bestfriend has stakes in Malaysian business. Oh that and admitting they ignored the Sultan’s letter.

American Ship Reefed in Tabataha: He was calm and firm about restitution and if the US doesn’t pay, well at least he is calm.

Taiwan Fisherman’s Shooting: He kept his perspective in the face of the damning video of PCG trigger-happy shooting of the Taiwanese Fishermen. And yes he can change his perspective after Taiwan threatened OFWs and trade ties.

China In Philippine Territory: He has taken the high road, because our ship is no match for China’s battleship. Pagkatapos niya tumahol na malakas, tago na siya under the saya of uncle sam.

Puno and Other Loyalists: He was loyal back. He did not wilt under the pressure of the media sensationalist glare. Even to the point of ignoring corruption. He is that loyal. Much like Gloria but now she is in jail.

Reluctance to Back FOI: I’m understanding why he does not enthusiastically see FOI the same way he enthusiastically wants to hold on to PDAF. He wants to control the congress and the media.. hahaha..

Zamboanga: He was on scene, firm on not negotiating. Because VP Binay’s out-of-line stab to keep the peace and avoid death and war is outweighed by Roxas insistence that war is the only way to get into the media’s limelight. Go Boy pick up

Negotiations with America on Basing: He insists on staying firmly within Philippine laws.The same as his mother. Who insisted on staying firmly that the US stay put.

Typhoon Yolanda and a Confrontational Mayor: Confrontational mayor? Didn’t the President blame the mayor on Day 1 and fired the cop who gave a 10,000 death estimate? From Roxas own mouth ” You are a Romualdez the President is an Aquino”. Kelan naging confrontational si mayor?

Oh yes don’t let the facts get in the way of your imperfect blog. But hey I ll cut you some slack for basically lying through your teeth. Oh look at the gaps.. I can see Malacanang from here..

hypo crite, I actually find your rebuttal to be reasonable and even constructive if you would cull out the personal slurs, Without question, my case has holes, many of which you zeroed on. Your case, too, has holes, but at least you addressed each point as an issue. After all, both of us are dealing with rather generalized opinions, not a tabulation of all the facts or the entire scenario on each instance. I don’t much like being called a liar, but, hey, diminishing the opponent is allowed in politics and blogging.

Still, I’ll adhere to the choice of not taking that route. It is tiresome to me, this mixing of insult with argument.

Out of curiosity, who would you like to see run for president in 2016?

A decent choice, good values, executive experience, broad-ranging experience from Subic to Red Cross to Senate. But he has a lot for critics to climb on, too. Emotionalism, poorly run senate campaign, “knee-jerk” decisions, political strife in Olongapo. He would need some big-money backing and I think he’d find it hard to get.

“He immediately confronted and jailed a powerful warlord. Another ding for glacial justice.”

Everyone with knows it was during the time of Gloria that Ampatuan was sent to jail. You are an internet blogger for crying out loud. That can be easily researched. What you stated was a lie. That makes you a liar. But of course in your world, only political enemies are liars. Those who lie, cheat, bribe in the name of the president would be defended with more lies, cheating and bribery.

I am sick of people like you trying to convince the public that the President is wearing a very elegant gown, when the truth of the matter is the Emperor has no clothes.

You might consider visiting a doctor. These are just ideas. Indeed, I will take your comment and convert it to a blog because it illustrates my point, that we are engaged at such a shallow level of discourse, of which your last line is a perfect example, that we end up tossing spittle at one another instead of information.

As for Ampatuan, I was writing from the top of my mind as I am inclined to do, writing to a concept, rather than poking up wiki to study each detail. So I made a mistake. You ever make one? Try to go for the concept. The concept The concept. This endless critical spittle, like calling me a liar, or the president a dolt, is not good for the Philippines. The concept. It need not be a war.

Overall I appreciate the analysis and the structure of your argument. PNoy is a blessing to this country despite his faults. My only regret is that he has only 2.5 years left while the country needs is at least 20 years of sustained good governance (or at least the sincere attempt at it)— like Singapore. The flawed cultural traits, habits and feudal mindset is just so deeply ingrained. It will take a deep conversion of the Filipino spirit to move forward. And of course, we need to see the wheels of justice turn faster….people actually jailed and punished for wrongdoing! If this happens, it will change our society.

Brian, I’m referring to the issue of the mayor refusing to meet with Roxas just after the crisis, and his petulance about signing a document conveying certain authority to the national government. His comment was something like “the president is the president of Tacloban, too, so why does he need a document?” That political posturing to me is gameplaying rather than getting on with the rescue and doing ANYTHING to facilitate a speed-up.

Thank you so much for this wonderful piece. Like you have pointed out, I wouldn’t consider PNoy as a perfect president, but indeed, he has made quite a number of tough “political” and “sensitive” decisions that are actually hard to make. Thus far, I am still impressed with his way of running the country — particularly in the way that he demands excellence, output, and results from his cabinet, which has been lacking in the last few presidents of the Philippines.

Perhaps an interesting point that you have raised is the fact that the Filipinos have developed a culture of being critical to a point that it may be unhealthy for the development of the country. I do agree to a certain extent. Specifically, I agree that Filipinos are indeed to critical, but I partly disagree that it is only in recent years. I believe that it is mainly driven by the fact that people in more contemporary times (especially during Aquino’s term) have the channel to voice out opinions easily, that is, through social media. Observably, although Filipinos have been generally opinionated on political matters, social media has allowed and magnified this critical nature. And as such, any decision or move these days receives mountains of opinion and heaps of loud voices through the internet and other communication channels.

So what’s my point here? Well, I do recognize and agree that Filipinos have a culture of “sometimes” being too critical, but I think that this was not only present in recent times. I believe that it is because of the proliferation of channels, particularly social media and the internet in general, which has enabled this culture of being too critical to reach a level that is undoubtedly not only unhealthy, but also harmful.

Thank you, Rene. Welcome to our ordinarily friendly and respectful Society. Things have gotten a little heated in this discussion, and the nature of some of the comments reflects exactly the point you and I both have made. The intensity of the personal slurs is a little overmuch, and the effort spent to analyze and synthesize, a little light. I can’t figure out why so many Filipinos can’t step back and say, “you know, our country is gaining a lot of respect under President Aquino, why do I want to undermine that?” This penchant for tearing down of self is a little bizarre to me.

The President has taken the lead into drastic changes that never happened to past presidents. If you want to ba a good leader and manager you must take the risk and exercise good judgements which the president had done today. He change the picture of the Philippines in the international arena, we are then more respected. It’s easy to say things but to do things towards righteousness is so complicated. I admire the president for his good upbringing and history can prove that…we have to respect the president as we need to respect our country and ourselves.

Yes, I regret that I do not have command of Tagalog or Visayan (which I prefer for its poetry in expression). But it is what it is, and your audience is what you choose it to be. Mine has reasonable command of English, and for that I am very appreciative.

Curing poverty and corruptions in the Philippines within the presidential term (6 years) is herculean task for any president. But at least President Aquino had started this task in earnest. With this act alone, Pres. Aquino not only deserves my respect but also my support. Even if only of getting rid of corruptions in local and national government, it will be a monumental achievement for Noy2 I wish, though, that he is a much better communicator to both the educated(elite if you will) and the common citizens so he could be less misunderstood and perhaps get more things done within his terms.

Very good critique. That is worth considerable thought, I think, how best to communicate substance to those who seldom read, watch two channels of TV, and get most of their insight by listening to their neighbors and barangay captain.

@TruthAlwaysComeOutInWhateverForm, I have deleted 10 of your postings, all with outside links. This is a discussion forum, not a dumping ground for propaganda links. If you have a point to make, please express it in a paragraph or two, preferably in a responsible and respectful manner, so people can respond. Thank you.

Haha, “ants to Mt. Everest” . . . I like that imagery, and agree with it. Yes, unfortunately, I have only been in the Philippines under Arroyo and Aquino, and have researched Aguinaldo, and a little on Cory Aquino, but not other presidents. That would be an interesting project for a guest author who has experienced them all. To do a reflection on each since Marcos. My sense is that President Aquino stands well. Steady and stable, making good progress economically and on things like corruption, cutting red tape, infrastructure investment, Mindanao peace, and response to crises.

I am not very keen on political issues, and many of them I do not understand. But i have been around since Marcos and I have seen (and felt) how morality among the elected officials has eroded. In my younger years the youth participated in “societal change” through volunteerism and integrity. Now they have have learned to bribe voters as well to be SK Chair. Administration after administration, you learn about whose hands got caught in the cookie jar, who killed who, who bribed who. Sound moral fiber plummeted at a frightening crescendo that you do not know who’s real anymore. The President offers a respite, albeit temporarily, in what has become a norm. I only hope that the next presidents after him can do a lot better especially in restoring the people’s trust in government.

Yes, me too. You may be interested in the dialogue at the article entitled “Changing the Asocial Behavior of the Ruling Class” (link in right column). A commenter points out that values are “caught”, not taught, and therefore they become patterned. The cycle has been down and now hopefully will start moving up. It is a long term prospect.

We have a good president, the problem is the system and the corrupt officials from the bottom going up….. Ive been a businessman for 20 years now and ive seen why people do not progress in our coumtry. Hay……….

If Noynoy is really hell bent in following his “tuwid na daan”, then he should not be selective in the investigation on the years of corruption that transpired whether it was during GMA’s time or his. The problem with him is that he’s ever ready to defend his allies immediately after a scandal came up. The problem is that he’s got a very selective memory of who should be investigated and prosecuted. The Hacienda Luisita issue will forever haunt his family and I’m pretty sure, the Aquino clan is not ready to really give the lands. On the other hand, he’s so vindictive that he doesn’t want GMA post bail whereas all the others who are co-accused with her were given the go to post bail. He should let justice roll. File cases after cases against her and let justice do its course. I don’t think he’s ready to become a president. He was just wise enough to use the death of his mother to win by sympathy votes. He started rightly in his presidency but may end up in the trash or with the same room in VMMC when his time would come. He thinks the presidency is like a kid’s game. Up to this date, he doesn’t have a concrete plan for the country. The power shortage is just one. Foresight is not in his skills as a leader!

Posting bail is for the courts not for the Office of the President…All you have is hatred in your heart. Dapat pag tama, tama, pag mali, mali… Hopefully, you can see the good things that are happening in the country and not spread negativities. The sad thing is many who recognize the good things that Noynoy has been doing for the Philippines are not Filipinos and may Filipinos still have the crab mentality to pull down the Philippines.

That last line is worth a “heads up”. The Philippines will have a hard time leading Asia if its people are always tearing at the nation from the inside. Outsiders, I think, have all dealt with presidents who are dysfunctional or odd, and see Mr. Aquino as a leader of considerable stability and accomplishment. But Filipinos seem to want perfection and tear-down anything short of it. Which, of course, means tearing down anyone and everyone. Really superb point.

I agree. Its high time to be a little more optimistic and focus on the good side of it all for a good change. Our crab mentality has always been the show stopper. Baguhin naman natin how we view issues and stuff. Tone down a little on our judgements and criticisms and let the rule of law take its place. Lalong walang mangyayari sa atin kung puro tirahan nalang ng tirahan.

I am a Filipino ex-pat living in Europe. Over the last 30 odd years I have been going back and forth to our beloved country. My main observations about the whole system is that, there is absolutely NO LAW & ORDER and corruption is still at the highest saved for President Aquino.
Sir I take my hat off you! The population is growing at an alarming level and no provision is being made to slow down such growth rate. The Filipinos are now branded all over the world as “MAIDS” and according to some Brits, the word Filipino in the English dictionary means maid.

Foreign remittances from OFW’s as well as from ex-pats is gigantic – Why can’t the administration use some of these monies to create jobs and retrain people. Also I note that there is an age discrimination in terms of employment. Accordingly if one is over 26, 29 or 30 years of age (depending on what job one is trying to apply for) is barred from applying – Does that mean that because one is at a certain age then one might as well die? Such practices is awfully cruel and inhumane!

With the exception of President Aquino, every god-damned Filipino who has held an office is absolutely corrupt!!! For a start people in power or in high offices should never accept luxurious gifts e.g. powerful cars, expensive watches etc. Afraid it’s a tasks that no one person viz President Aquino could not solve such problems. Where do we go from here?!

Welcome to the Society, Mona. Actually, it is the OFW inflow that is fueling the current economic growth and return to health, which in turn has given the nation a stronger financial condition and ability to invest in infrastructure projects, like much needed expressways in Manila, and airports, which should in turn generate more productivity. The birth rate you have to take up with the Church. Or get the message out to the poor people that babies really do cost money. There is a lot of discrimination, I agree, and for reasons that are artificial and nonsensical. SKILL seems almost not important. Who you know is very important. I about blew a mental gasket when a local university here refused to allow my highly skilled brother-in-law to try out for the basketball team because he was not 6 feet tall. Ability didn’t count. That says it all. Commercial values like customer orientation are weak (clerks snarl and owners believe we are blessed for them to allow us to shop at their establishment). It seems like a glacier-pace of progress, slow grinding. Just simple values, like justice requiring speed to be just, simply escapes the people in charge. Or education leading in seating new values, rather than just rote repeating what was done last year. But the best we can do is keep pushing. Or warming the ice maybe.

“Actually, it is the OFW inflow that is fueling the current economic growth and return to health** snip ** should in turn generate more productivity.”

The same group which he did not even care. Let’s roll the film backwards, war in the middle east, he boasted that relief and evacuation centers are setup and he personally manage them.. The truth was, the evacuation centers never existed, some of the OFWs were even rescued by Chinese forces.

Lets look a little deeper, hi acted as the lawyer and defender in one of the fiasco in the tollways the Philippines have. A corporation in South Luzon Express way increased their tollways 350% from the approved 15%, the president speak and drive away the protesters in with a line “Let us just understand the investors”. He gives a shut eyes and ears to the problem and protected them. This bald man was telling everyone, the rules are only made to protect the rich.

I can’t get enough of how you respond to the comments, especially those from the “trolls”. You always sound balanced, and cool, and reasonable. A high degree of decency shows which highlights the “trolls'” lack of it. I think i’ll stick a while longer if you don’t mind. 😊

Oh, I lose it now and then, but it is so much wasted energy. When people arrive to speak, but not to listen, conversation is pretty useless. I’m glad you found the site and I hope you do stick around for more. 🙂

The problem with us Filipinos is we only see what we want to see. Sad to say, most of the time we concentrate on the bad more than the good things. If we don’t mend our own ways we will never grow. God bless the Philippines!

Rommel, good of you to stop by. I think it is a cyclical thing, when one is always taken advantage of by occupiers and crooks, one develops a cynical, negative mindset. When one starts to see the light of optimism, things look happier. There is a lot to be happy about in the Philippines, sound economy, political stability for the most part, pressure on the corrupt, lots of new development of roads and airports, expanding middle class, a lot of bright, involved people. Great people. Gorgeous lands and seas. I’d say it is time to stop manufacturing so many complaints and get on with the positive.

Thank you, Bert. A president is entitled to a personality and for sure has more information to guide him than we do. Unless he is committing gross blunders, he deserves some room to operate, including a sizable discretionary budget, and our trust and backing. President Aquino is of good character, and has developed strengths on the job. I hope he continues to be engaged at a policy or advisory level after 2016. I think ANY president would be wise to seek his counsel.

Me too, we have similar observation. The questions of some of our countrymen, the expect so much from the president, why won’t they contribute their little knowledge for the good of the country. or why do they pretend to show that their criticism comes from their hearts when in fact, they have their own agenda to pull the good things the president is doing. Truth of the matter, is this kind of people are affected with Ninoy’s policy NA tugisin ang mga corrupt!
At ito pa, pigilin ang mga abusado.

Cut all the craft !!! Filipinos under Pnoy’s administration are suffering . Their needs are neglected as seen in the downward trend of the economy. No jobs are created, prices of commodities are zooming, infrstructure is neglected and corruption is growing fast justice is withheld as seen in the Napoles case. I bet this case will be whitewashed. For thise people who see Pnoy as a hero are abnormal and autistic. Filipinos should find a way to stop all this bad things that Pnoy has been doing for the past 3 yrs of his administration. Rest assures that after Pnoys term the filipinos will all be suffering which is more worst than the previous arroyo administration. Wake up my dear fellowmen, wake up to the truth that “ang tuwid na daan ” ni Pnoy is only hoax when the truth is that he doesnt know the right way to make the lives of the filipinos to become better!
Filipinos in the U.S. are so concerned with what is happening in the Philippines. Insurgency, injustice , inflation has gone wild! We cannot bear the pains that they are experiencing under Pnoys administration as shown in the Tacloban tragedy! His cabinet members are all damn and stupid, quatelling in the middle,of a tragedy! People are dying of famine yet politics prevails! Pnoy and his cabinet are all abnormal! All they are thinking of is corruption! He holds the judiciary, legislative and executive branch of the government which is worst than the Marcos administration. Even his press people are resigning for not bearing the pressure he puts in them..
I HOPE EVERYONE WHO READS THIS GOT THE MESSAGE I WANT TO SAY! You be the judge and tell me why i disagree with giving respect to Pnoy!

Well, I don’t think Mr. Aquino is a hero, so I’m happy that I don’t need to think of myself as abnormal and autistic. I think he is a good president and I’ve just spent a blog writing about why the Philippines is stronger if it has more people respecting his work and fewer ripping the Philippines to shreds because they don’t like something he did. Your note is an example of a picture painted selectively, and wrongly, in my view. The economy is upward bound, not down, as attested to by the new high rise buildings in Manila, the congestion, the new cars on the street, the casinos coming in, the places like Palawan that are developing as first class tourism locations, and wealth that is rolling into outlying communities like mine. The national debt is in order, rating agencies have upgraded the nation, competitive ratings are higher, corruption ratings are improved, there is peace on the horizon in Mindanao . . . and into this raft of good news, you choose to write a full-blooded complaint. The one place where you have legitimate reason to complain is regarding justice. That I agree with. But that is not the Executive branch.

Plus infrastructure development is very active, airports, roads, trains, drainage system in Manila, defense equipment, schools . . . I doubt it has ever been this active. Certainly, not under President Arroyo who was constrained by economic limits, which were themselves constrained by rampant corruption.

Can you please point to use where are the infrastructure you are talking, the airports built? The roads, they never stop being built and most of them at ghost projects. Drainage? Twice a year, Manila fix their drainage.. How about the rest of the country? You don’t need to travel far.

As of the record, one of Pnoy’s road project (single one) crumbles to a moderate typhoon.

Let me address both your comments here. I’m not sure what situation in the Middle East you are referring to. So you’d have to educate me on that.

I agree that the wealthy have undue influence in Philippine government policy. That is the system, not the President. He has to get things done, and power is concentrated in a very few people.

The two main strides forward that have been made during the Aquino Administration are new procedures to make contracts visible and less susceptible to kickbacks, and the development of public-private partnerships (slow going). These are important. I’m not going to do the research you ask for, as my comment is based on numerous readings over recent months, but will refer you to the DOTC web site, and the press releases which profile the big projects:

well for one, for years, when i see roadworks, they always end up in asphalt (which always gets reworked since trucks always ply our neighborhood=source of kickback) but come 2011-2012, roadworks were all done in cement. Even that road expansion in C3 that was just dug up and left there for a decade, was started in 2012 and right now as we speak was cemented and halfway thru it. Even our street which always gets flooded, when it get worked on they use small pipes for years hence it gets clogged every 3 years. Lo and behold last year, big pipes were laid down and was finished within 2 weeks! so im waiting till 2016 if this road project will hold up 🙂 I always say its in the little things. And if we get those little things right, they will eventually lead to bigger things done right.

The amount of money taken from the government is astounding. Kickbacks and smuggling, to avoid taxes. If the leaks get plugged so much more can be done. Thanks for giving us that real-world confirmation that things are improving.

Glad that we have the same impression on this President. I might find some difficulty with some of his men but that is not unusual. The one to follow will be a good topic for lengthy discussions. I’ll wait until then.

Good of you to stop by, Budsky. I think the pool from which to draw competent executive staff is small and some are clearly tainted. The pool will get bigger, I think, with more exhaustive searching and maybe pulling people from private industry (like Tourism Secretary Jimenez) or from the cities that are doing well.

I am happy I stopped by and found a kindred spirit. May I add that not only do I respect my president, I also admire him a lot, mostly because of what you have discussed. Too bad we have a few spoilsports….

Kindly check the so-called accomplishments of Pres. Aquino. Those are results of Former President Arroyo’s Economic Agenda. Road projects, Bridges, extensions of offices were are planned during Arroyo’s Administration. Please check the economic plan of President Aquino, sad to say it is ZERO. We need a leader who is more than calm. We need economist, we need business planner, we need someone who can rule the economy and let the so-called economic development felt by ordinary people. Not by those people who are in the position enjoying the so-called benefits of economic development. I see Aquino as Autistic, Incompetent, and unready for the position. I do not see him as a leader but just a puppet following what is plotted by the oligarch. If he himself is a good leader, the simplest and the most heroic act that he could do and would change how I look at him is making a difference in Hacienda Luisita, that alone could give as the idea of Aquino is a good leader.

This is one hell of a statement! I must admit that I did campaign and vote for the president because I know during those times we badly need an honest candidate who will clean up the mess of the crocked previous tenant of Malacanang. I did not expect him to eradicate corruption up to 0% because that will never happen. As far as I can see PNoy did not disappoint me. Yes there are (numerous) times that I got disappointed with his moved like the one in Quirino Grandstand hostage taking, the energy crisis, and the lackluster effort on agricultural sector. But at the end of the day, he is still human like us who commit mistakes. The most important thing is that his reputation up to now is unblemished. No one, even in the opposition, can accuse him of corruption! And to me that is the whole point why he is still our bet for this country to move forward.

Im pretty sure that it will be a tough decision for us to vote in the 2016 elections because as of this writing there is still no viable candidate that will inspire us like what PNoy did.

Mikoy, nice summary. Yes, that energy problem. What a mess. Nationalize the whole bunch of them.

That last sentence is very telling. When you stack ANYBODY up against President Aquino, they come off as being lightweights. Because the President HAS represented the Philippines strongly in the international community, has steadied the domestic economy, and pushed hard against corruption. He’s been a big time leader.

Judging from the amount of comments here, some rather… less contributory and thoughtful than others, I see this post of yours has made the rounds. Honestly, I’ve been sitting here chomping down spoonfuls of ube halaya to help me wash off the bad aftertaste some of these “discussions” here are leaving me.

Not too well-read on the current happenings so I fear I can’t contribute anything particularly insightful either.

Some people speak as if the man isn’t deserving of any respect or credit at all. Granted, he has made mistakes and unpopular decisions, but people can’t possibly expect an all-the-right-decisions guy, especially after our history of leaders. It’s not like buying a spray-wipe in the supermarket that clears 99.99% of bacteria in an instant and keeps it away.

Hats off to you, Joe America, for hosting a very intelligent, compassionate, & honest blog! But even more hats off for being patient with all your trolls!!! But could you please minimize your attention to them & just give them the insignificance that they deserve? Responding to the constructive criticism definitely helps the cause. But responding to the trolls just takes your time away from much more worthy endeavors 🙂

Thank you Reggie. Yes, I agree that trolls deserve being ignored, or outright spammed off the page. Possibly I need to recognize who is a troll earlier, the failure to do so being a function of my naive belief that even trolls can be talked to respectfully. This thread is the only one in my four years of blogging that was so infested. I appreciate your good advice.

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I’ve got to do a blog about that, about people who use the term “apologist”. It is about the sneakiest way of being unkind that I know. It is usually used by those with an agenda who don’t know how to win the argument for their agenda.

Joe, the Ampatuan massacre was resolved by Mrs Arroyo, who declared martial law and rounded everyone up with all the evidence and no loss of life. She is now in jail because Aquino was willing to defy the Supreme Court just to prevent her from seeking medical treatment abroad. You shd try having a metal plate stuck in the back of your neck my friend. It will probably cure some of your delusions.

I like you, too, Gary. Good to know people of your esteemed character are visiting the blog. This was pointed out by another reader and I acknowledged the error. In subsequent blogs and comments, I have placed the matter in correct historical context. You know, I don’t claim perfection, like some, and my mind is open to lessons from people who accept that ignorance is common to us all, at some level. On the other hand, insults are . . . well, insulting.

I respect the man and now he has my sympathy and admiration … I see you’re getting some intense flak Joe … better put on your flak jacket and helmet as well … maybe you should offer free spray on which would produce 99.9% perfection for those who wants perfection. Kudos to your article!

Ever since the 2010 election which coincided with the growth of social media in the Philippines, I’ve been having an uphill battle with self-proclaimed intellectuals who would bully anyone with different opinion through mob mentality that I find my love of political discussion no longer enjoyable

Personally, though the self-proclaimed intellectuals and ironically named Freethinkers would deny this, they actuall, deep inside them wants a showbiz government (or at least my definition of a showbiz government)

For me, a Showbiz government is a government that always do the popular decisions which can (admittedly) be the correct decision sometimes, but never always.

Pnoy is the opposite of this which is why I find him as my favorite president ever since I was able to vote.

For example, all-out-war on Mindanao, is something that FPJ or Erap would do in the movies, and admittedly very satisfying to see. Also, I have no use for PR, I understand its importance but personally I really don’t care about it much.

I’m with you, akismet. I actually belong to no organizations, none, zippo, because I detest other people presuming to speak for me. Or trying to put me in their box. Congratulations on being a REAL independent SMART-thinker.

very well said, you are one of the few who I consider very intelligent (real sense of the word) not like others who act to be one when in fact they are obviously stupid and can’t even understand the word respect. I salute you!

You sir says it all! Filipinos are just a bunch of critics but do nothing to support the country. They have a one sided thought and narrow minded. They know nothing but try to say everything specially when something happens that involve the president. I pity my country for having a narrow minded people but I say we were lucky to have Benigno Aquino III as pur president. I hope this will help lighten up their minds. I will surely share this. Thank you.

“Why I respect Aquino! caught my Attention! At least, here’s one solid Soul honest enough to express what’s the truth behind all These NEGAS blah-blah-blah! Yes, Aquino is definitely NOT perfect just like each one of us…but he performs his Job well …for the People! I can’t blame Kris for defending his brother from all these nasty comments from co-celebrities…I’d be too given a brod like him!

RESPECTING MY PRESIDENT IS NOT ENOUGH. I WILL WAIT FOR THE DAY THAT I WILL RESPECT MY COUNTRY’S GOV’T AS A WHOLE. THE PRESIDENT ITSELF WILL NOT BE ENOUGH FOR ME TO HAVE CONFIDENCE IN THE GOVERNMENT RUNNING MY COUNTRY.

Try lower case, ic. Upper is too loud. I rather think you will be grousing a long time, because perfection is hard to find. And government officials will never get around to doing it the way you want. Even when the nation is growing well, getting wealthier, getting stronger, getting more fair . . . like now.

I just realize that I was not helping pointing out my Judgement to the Philippine President. I sincerely asking for an apology for those who have read my bad statements about the Aquino’s Administration. Now it is clear to me that our criticism is not helping to our economy. We are not in the position to judge, we are not one of those Politician who took years to master the Philosophy and Complexity of being a leader. We are just only a supporter, a follower, a Voter. And the only thing we can do is to observe, quietly, gently, and then decide. That is all we have to do. Gossips are just like FEVER spreading to different human minds, and if the information is miscalculated it will become a VIRUS that will make our country weaker. There is No need for harsh words no need to criticize, because what we truly heard is just only according to what someone heard to someone who were not in the real situation. We can investigate without judgements. We have to respect the President in a sense that he is our PRESIDENT, our LEADER, no matter how he handle things under his administration, he is still the leader, we voted him, we put him there. Remember that Judgement is different from the Decision you make, so if you don’t agree about how he manage the situation you have to decide without pulling the trigger to someone’s head. Because that is not helping. There is a saying that says, ” In order for us to realize, we must analyze”. and when we analyze things, we just simply put our conclusions to the right way. We don’t have to inform everybody how foolish the President is, instead, we have to remind ourselves to be aware and wise enough to react on what is happening to our society. We can use our rights to complain but never use it to influence people and become ARROGANT. Let us put DEMOCRACY in the right place.

I got too tired of reading the news because I’m not a huge fan of drama. Militants cannot even substantiate their disputes and claims and God-knows-what-else and yet they have the guts to always put themselves in the limelight as if they speak for all the Filipinos. I pay my tax, I raise my children with good Filipino values and I make sure that I will not be a liability to my country. These people who have nothing to do but put all the blame on someone else’s shoulder surely needs to rethink and reassess how much they have done on a micro level. They are too busy to find faults and mistakes but I am certain that most of them have no concrete contribution to the country except noise, never ending complaints and namecalling. Leadership to them is hey-let-me-look-at-you-sweat-while-i-sit-on-your-face. Taking these people seriously won’t put food on the table. At the end of the day, they have nothing to offer but crap, blah blah and everything in between.

Ah, you’ve almost written my blog for me, smooth. The leftists, Waldon Bello excepted, are hot air and produce nothing, but pretend they can run the nation better than the people in office. Man, they can’t even GET into office.

You don’t need to be highly educated to open to see the positive changes that have transpired since President Aquino took over,you just need to be a simple Filipino who just thinks well about your country.You hit it spot on with that article Joe,thank you

Thank you, jay. I am endlessly amazed that people deny the progress the Philippines has made during the Aquino years. It’s like they WANT to live in a loser of a nation, just to justify themselves. A lot of them voted for someone else and are still intent on proving they were right. So they dig and dig to find a way to slant the facts. Fact is, the Philippines is on the rise.

they bragged about being the Intellectual voters last 2010, and called anyone not voting their candidate as dumb voters.

In their minds, Pnoy who they detested so much, could not possibly be responsible in the almost half a decade constant 7% GDP.

These are the same people who will claim that the ones in position is not doing any progress since they will almost always support candidates that has zero chance of winning.
Cause it’s easier that way.

Yes, Rayanami, a lot of the noise comes from people who picked a different candidate in 2010 and would rather work for 6 years trying to justify their decision than support the nation. Given that President Aquino won with 42% of the votes, that means 58% form the base from which so many crabs emerge. EXCELLENT point. Indeed , that is easier for them because they only have one argument to make, over and over. They don’t have to think at all. Just condemn.

You’re certainly entitled to your own opinion, even one as controversial and as unpopular right now as this one. But the only real question that anyone should ask when measuring a president’s effectivity is this; “have the lives of his people gotten better or worse under his watch?”.

Worsening traffic, poor public transport, little or no upward mobility, increasing gap between rich and poor employment prospects would seem to suggest that the answer would be a resounding “NO!”. By that measure Pres. Aquino must be considered at best, a placeholder prez who only tread water and kept everything in place, and at worst a complete and utter failure as a head of state.

Yes, I debated whether or not to even respond because there is a certain futility to speaking into a mind that is so filled with certainty. The traffic and transport problems are outgrowths of strong economic growth on top of terrible infrastructure. Infrastructure is expensive and it takes years to fix. To deny the high rises, the new casinos, the million call center workers, the growing economy among the best in Asia, the rise in debt and global index standings, the initiatives for peace with China (ITLOS) and indigenous Mindanao (BBL), rising tourism, 60,000 new school classrooms, increases in social assistance, improvements in defense . . . well, good luck. Who would you like to see as President in 2016?

we have tried to remove every president that we had since marcos. we successfully removed some of the bad ones and now we are trying remove even the most honest one weve ever had since his former president mother. I wonder where this country is heading… we filipinos suck! All we know is protest! media should know their share, we are not an intellectual country, we are not even smart enough to realize what we are getting our selves into if we remove PNOY from his office this early. DAP was declared unconstitutional by the SC, and SC is headed by a justice appointed by Pnoy himself, it only shows that the president assigned people who are determined to uphold the law, that simply shows good character! PNOY is not perfect that he commits honest shortcomings, we all do but so does the media. For PNOY though, it would not hurt also to admit we are not perfect.. we all make mistakes. God Bless this country coz i honestly think we are doomed!

You know, lg, you express my feeling in a nutshell. I don’t get it. I thought this banana republic coup mentality had been left behind. It injects so much uncertainty into the equation that people don’t want to invest here. The improved Moodys and S&P ratings were because of the stability the President brought to the table, but the crooks and leftists and political people who thrive on instability are still way too prominent. When the nation is run to benefit the few, lacking the ethical character to say “no way” to a crook and liar as candidate for President, it is indeed doomed.

this is all bullshit! the Luneta Bus Crisis “follow-up handled well”? Are you out of your f***ing mind? GMA jailed when so far 7 plunder cases have all been dismissed? The Constitution raped by pork-barrel-oiled Congress and Senate? this is Yellow propaganda of the highest order. Please don’t be blinded by this crap! This government has been ruling with spin and propaganda and a fiscal dictatorship propped up by SWS ratings and a conscript media. Positive thinking doesn’t mean being blind to the what’s really happening underneath. Being critical and digging below the surface of what is spoonfed by a deceptive “daang matuwid”, blame-passing, credit-grabbing rhetoric is not negative at all, because as a people it’s our duty to question our leaders. If you and others persist at being happy in some wonderland with an idiot president that you “respect” with then we really do deserve to be swimming in this bowl of crap that many of us refuse to smell, because we are too far up Noynoy’s arse!

Well, Fermin, I rather think a picture can be painted however you like it. You like it nasty, that’s the way you paint it. You like it pretty, that’s the way you paint it. You live what you paint, I think, and yours is really quite ugly. Thanks for offering up a contrary view. I rather think you are not changing any minds, though, because you don’t really get through to people by diminishing them.

I agree with you Joe America. Pres. Aquino has already taken responsibility of what had happened though he might have forgotten to mention lapse of judgment on his part, I must say the rest of us should move on and think out of the box and look at the bigger picture. President Aquino has vowed to crush the terrorists and we should all unite behind him to crush anyone that is an enemy of the state. While keeping in our hearts the thought of the Fallen44 and their families and the sacrifices they made for our country, we must fight with courage those who try to promote hostility in Mindanao on the side of the Muslim separatists.

Yes, right Jove. I suppose the thing that endlessly amazes me is how people who, themselves, could not find the door to the CR in the Palace, are experts in everything. No information. No context. Just an image in their heads. From that image, they condemn the President and undermine the Philippines. Strange brand of patriotism . . .

As much as i try to understand the critics,i just can’t get to see their point.It’s just so pathetic listening to their “arguments” because it is all based on fiction and not on reality.You don’t have to be a genius to see the positive changes around,all you have to do is just to open your eyes.

“you don’t have to be a genius to see the positive changes around.” Yes, yes, yes. That’s what amazes me. That so many people argue against that which is right in front of them, that is in the facts of economic health and growth and law-based initiatives for peace. It’s like ther is an innate desire in the Philippines to be losers, for all the crabs to rest warmly together in the bottom of the bucket rather than helping each other climb out.

“you don’t have to be a genius to see the positive changes around.” Yes, yes, yes. That’s what amazes me. That so many people argue against that which is right in front of them, that is in the facts of economic health and growth and law-based initiatives for peace. It’s like there is an innate desire in the Philippines to be losers, for all the crabs to rest warmly together in the bottom of the bucket rather than helping each other climb out.

I agree with you Joe. I cant understand why people use such insults on a person. Its not freedom of speech anymore. As for people saying that martial law was the best time in the Phils …. Its bewildering. I guess they should say that to all of the parents of those students who were imprisoned, tortured, killed. Filipinos have very short memories. We had EDSA to get rid of Marcos. And yet the Marcoses are back. We got rid of Erap and yet he is back. And almost won the last presidential election! And dont forget, GMA was elected for her intelligence but she used it for her benefit. We have a president who has had a lot of achievements which people forget, ignore? Or is it just our crab mentality rearing its ugly head? We didnt elect a saint. We elected a person who is not perfect. They keep saying choose better in the next election. But where can we find a good candidate in a country with such viciousness and ingratitude? Only a corrupt politician would put up with this kind of viciousness.

Really happy to see that this relatively old article is getting a lot of airtime again, Joe!

On another but related note, I heard from a trusted source connected with http://www.tandem.org.ph that there’s really a big problem with the computerization program of the Comelec & that there’s hard evidence for it. I found that hard to believe since such hard evidence should be all over social media by now. But it’s not. Would writing about that be among your interests?

I have wanted to write about COMELEC to try to put the matter into layman’s terms, but I don’t think I’m technologically proficient enough to grasp the problems. I don’t understand them so can’t explain them. If someone can educate me, I’d be pleased to popularize the arguments.I’ll try to spend some time on TanDem’s web site to see if I get it. Not today though.

Yeah,you hit it right on again Joe.Seems that the traditional politicians who were greatly affected by the reforms implemented by this administration are going to get away with it once more.As a Filipino,it really pains me when there are still people around who would rather pull the country back to where we were than just try to make a positive effort to help the country move forward.

…we have different views and beliefs regarding these issues facing the Philippine President. As a citizen here, we see actually what he is doing. When Yolanda hits the country, Aquino was there after a MONTH not to help the victims but to have a picture taking. So how would you rate that my friend? The stories are published beautifully,that he help, and he held them firm and that i think is what you have read, but really it did not happen. I do not dwell more on his critics, but we see things that he does and we can’t help but react on false praises. Honestly he was good during his first two years, i don’t know whom he is collaborating with that he became weak in his perspective of setting things right.

I live on Biliran Island and Tacloban is our “big city” for medical care, shopping and auto care. I know the destruction and death there. Yolanda was a beast, howling fury and destruction that moved through quickly and blasted the region to rubble. There is huge animosity between Tacloban’s Romualdez clan and the Aquino administration. Sec Roxas was on scene and working the day after the storm. Mayor Romualdez avoided him, and refused to sign a paper authorizing National assistance. The president is a busy man and chooses not to deal with people who have no interest in working forthrightly, only politically. Ask other mayors in the Visayas if National was responsive. The answer is yes . . . but not in Tacloban. Furthermore, disaster preparation and recovery is, BY LAW, a local responsibility. Romualdez blew it and to this day denies any accountability for the deaths and destruction there.

Just look at Philippine performance from the broadest lens. How can you deny the achievements? I’m thinking maybe Yolanda has shaped your view, and it is a case of labeling the overall character of a man based on one instance you did not like. Maybe you were reading the instance wrong. Maybe you are failing to grasp the whole weight of the President’s responsibilities.

when Bohol was struck by an earthquake, the city/province officials immediately do their job without the ‘fanfare’. when a calamity strikes, the local officials must be the first to respond… the National second…

It is actually an accumulation of laws and authorities, the most significant of which is zoning and where houses and businesses are allowed to operate. A local responsibility. Tacloban determines how close to the sea or flood channels homes can be built. Plus designation of evacuation centers and conducting evacuations. Local. The building codes are national laws, but permitting is a local responsibility. Here are two of my prior blogs on the subject of disaster preparation written before Yolanda, and one written afterward:

Good “interpretation” ey? You favor your own interpretation of things when it suits your agenda – you favor your interpretation of what really happened in Tacloban even if you are faced with facts. You bank on your interpretation of things when you were in Biliran – more than 120+ kilometers from Tacloban

The FACT is Roxas was NOT on scene and working in Tacloban a day after the storm. My day in Tacloban started by hopping on a motorcycle and going around Tacloban; and that’s when I assisted a female with a wound pierced by a big nail on her right foot, I went to San Jose and was not able to go through the road to McArthur Park because of the huge debris. I rode along Coca-Cola where bottles littered the streets nearby, and went to V&G, and then to downtown Tacloban. I met many people and talk with a lot of them. I did not eat breakfast, lunch, and supper. I only ate 1 bar of choco bar on that day because food was nowhere to be found.

I was THERE. And Roxas was NOT on scene and was NOT there a day after Yolanda. Neither was the Incompetent President. On the second day, I rode on a motorcycle an went to Guiuan, E. Samar. Roxas was not there, and neither was the President.

Well, I appreciate the opposing view, and you had my respect up to the last two lines. The accusations of bad faith and namecalling destroy my confidence that the other arguments are legitimate. If the arguments are strong, there is no need to go personal.

Maybe try it again when you can figure out how to state your case so that I can believe you actually want to discuss the matter rather than shout at me.

I still believe in the President for I have seen how the country grew during his service. Even our own sleepy town in Isabela is booming since his leadership started. My previous company also reported a total of 200% increase of income since PNoy.
What is wrong with most of the critics is they just see the mistakes, they don’t count the accomplishment.

Yes, they take the small view, and not the large. Thanks for the info about Isabela. I have been arguing for some time that the economic improvement is making its way to the provinces. I see it here locally in roads and construction and new cars and jobs. (Biliran Island)

Care to elaborate, Pablo? It is not a win/lose contest, it is a discussion thread. I have no way of conversing with you if you don’t let me know what is going on inside your head. Maybe I’d agree with you. Who knows.

As for drugs, I went through the weed era, so I know grass, but these days its pills for high blood. The passages we go through . .

I agree that at this point we should see things in a better light. As always here are my common thoughts generally to those who keep on criticizing.. Why is it so easy to see all the wrong things than to just to see what others have done right? Does this even make you happy or even do any better ib your life? If people will just keep on criticizing then be the president if you are far better.

So much for crab mentality rather than helping the president to unite everyone and find better solutions. Most Filipinos would rather bring their own people down. Crab mentality? This has been long running in the Philippine culture.

I agree with the “mindset” that your blog advocates. It is indeed true that we must have a collective positive view towards unity and development and must do everything we can to support our leaders. I have always been a supporter of Pnoy and I believe he is doing everything he can for our country, however with regard to not showing up during the arrival of our fallen heroes but being present at an opening of car factory.. ahm.

This incident is highly suggestive of his character and decision making skills. This decision does not require deep analysis but rather an average sensitivity to the issue. I don’t see any dimension of reality where attending to that opening ceremony is better in any scale for the country compared to honoring our fallen when they arrived.

Again, this might not be enough to form a “conclusion” but it is an indicator of how or where his character is leaning… What we can infer from his decision not be present there but be present in the car opening instead, is something rather obvious but nonetheless correct. Again we can;t totally judge him but this decision that he made is STRONGLY SUGGESTIVE of what type of person, president he is.

Nonetheless we should continue to respect him… this reminds me of Her Majesty’s Most Loyal Opposition at the United Kingdom haha.

Thanks for the well-expressed view, Edmund. I think the President’s weakness, a certain emotional detachment from his surroundings, is also his strength, an extraordinary ability to remain calm in the face of crisis, as he was in the Hong Kong affair, the Taiwan affair, the American ship into a reef affair, and the Zamboanga seige. Also the Laude murder. As the tabloid press was erupting in emotion, he was doing his job. I’ll take that as a strength over a Santiago or Duterte who might start shooting their lips before thinking.

THE point is abnoy Pinoy is very stupidd. Abnoy Pinoy is so stupid and fucked up to choose the opening of company something instead of attending the ceremony of the fallen heroes. His cabinet is stupid as well for not telling him what he should have prioritized. Fuckin corrupt and stupid. MAY all of the corrupt public officials burn in hell

I would ask that you restrain your language and character of dialogue. This blog is not about winning and losing, but about learning. It is not about shouting, but about listening. It is not about insulting, but respecting. If you cannot express yourself in those terms, please refrain from commenting. Any further comments along this line will be deleted to preserve the integrity of the blog. Please rephrase your comments and any questions you might have and we can continue the discussion.

ASk the so-called “sponsors aka as agitators” of who you termed as “the victims in Hacienda Luisita” to give them justice. They who talk to the farmer-benficiaries to ask for greater share or insist on getting their own titles of the land they till but without explaining to them the downside of owning a lot but without cash to till the land and make it profitable.

By the way, so that we are on the same page, what justice are you demanding from the President for these victims?

Hello! This is such a great article. But I have a suggestion, if you may please. For this article to reach more Filipinos, it would be best if you translate it to Tagalog. In that way, Filipinos who are not inclined with the English language will understand your article fully. It may also help widen your audience. Therefore, more Filipinos will be enlightened. It’s just a suggestion though. 🙂 Thank you.

This is such a great article. But I have a suggestion, if you may please. I believe more Filipinos should be enlightened by this article. Maybe by writing it in Tagalog, more Filipinos will appreciate your wisdom and you may also reach a wider audience. Perhaps a separate article in Tagalog? It’s just a suggestion though 🙂 Thank you.

“I’m saying cut some slack about judging an entire picture – or person – on the basis of one paint stroke.”

Really now? As if all the criticisms/feedback thrown at PNoy’s way are really just looking at individual/single events. The very reason he is receiving more flak now is because of the totality of the picture more and more Filipinos (even those who voted for him) are beginning to see after the 5 (wasted) years under his presidency.

I disagree, Zat, obviously. Healthy economy, improved international standing, investment in schools and infrastructure and defense, rise in the global rankings, profound initiatives like ITLOS and BBL, better management disciplines within the cabinet departments (aiming for performance targets), calm, rational dealing with international flare-ups . . . I get tired of reciting them, they are so obvious. All he has not been able to do is cure deeply embedded poverty in five years. Never mind that it took the US 7 years to recover from a simple economic cycle. . .

“defending our president gets to be too tiresome: I agree, and exasperating. I find it supremely ironic that a few years ago, I was just another complaining foreigner, unable to adjust to a culture that is a tad different than we have in America, and now much of the time I feel isolated by pointing out the Philippines is on the rise, and if you had a lousy President that would not be happening. The first thing President Aquino did was right the financial ship and drive toward an investment grade debt rating, a successful achievement, for all the benefits it brings. No one notices that. Too boring, not enough blood.

Well, first of all, I pay my taxes to let the government protect my life, my freedom and the common good. I know it’s a tough job to lead a country. This is why you shouldn’t run for president if you’re going to be a pussy at some point. Sorry for that, I didn’t want to comment but some of your facts are dubious, and your examples and analogies don’t help. If you really want to join this conversation, please check your facts and site your sources. A general rule of thumb in writing is using CREDIBLE sources. I’m not sure if Urban Dictionary can be relied on when it comes to defining classic phrases that aren’t really “urban”. My last request: don’t say that you are objective; BE.

“if you want to join this conversation . . .” Well, v, it is my conversation, and you are not the moral gatekeeper either here or of the universe. God handles all that. I do grant you the forum to object even if you don’t understand that meaning has its own objectivity, and if it can be found in the numbers, great, if it can be found in the Urban dictionary, great. Thanks for paying your taxes and building our roads.

Indeed what you say is true, any candidate for President should understand the enormous burdens and thankless little help that will be granted by taxpayers.

I didn’t realize that you won’t easily get that I was referring to the bigger “conversation” about the issue where your blog entry attempts to contribute to by giving a pro-pnoy perspective. I don’t know why you started talking about morality; I just want you to get your facts right and your logic impeccable. If you can’t do that, stop assuming that you know a lot about issues and current events. Real talk are for people who aren’t not interested in soliciting the number of views and shares of anything they have to say. Thanks.

I’m afraid you do not understand the premise of the blog. It is not about perfect knowledge, and imposing that. It is about provoking ideas and discussions. Read my comment to concerned citizen and try to grasp the idea. If you don’t care for that kind of discussion, simply don’t visit the blog. You don’t dictate to me what I write. I write whatever the hell I want, fiction even, as I discuss in the tabs up above. If you can’t participate on my terms, you can’t participate.

I guess your blog does provoke a lot of passionate people.Some more arrogant and obtuse than others. That is the bane and nature of a blog I suppose but kudos to you, JoeAm, I enjoy the repartee while I absorb the sentiments! Keep it up.

Thanks for the encouragement. I’m going to do a rating schedule for the people who pop in with short, offensive remarks, leave, and never return again. Rather than delete them or write comments, I’ll just give them a score on the Jerk-o-meter. 10 would be a full fledged, unadulterated jerk who contributes nothing to the discussion but a personal slur. It will make responding easy. “Your score is 8”, then off to spend time with the real people, such as yourself.

Then I’ll have another one for people who are here to advocate a hard position and have absolutely zero interest in listening or learning. They will get scored on a Dunce-o-meter.

You know, since that incident happened, I have not listened to news updates then, up to now… I am just selecting what i want to hear or read about that scene from my FB feeds. It’s really gruesome.

Your blog’s title catches my attention. I think you are right in some aspect. And i admire how the President handles the situation. He remains composed.

As an OFW from Saudi, I am really saddened of what happened. We wish we could not hear news like that because it will make us (OFW) feel more abased. Filipino workers here are looked up to by other nationals. And if we hear news like that, it degrades our pride and confidence.

In comparison with previous Presidents, I am still in favor of PNOY. If it’s only possible he could extend his term, I will still support him.

Hi, Charles. The blog has a number of regular readers from the Middle East. I think you state EXACTLY where most people are with regard to President Aquino. The tabloid press, however, caters to the loud critics. The Philippines has come a long way the past few years. I’d be proud if I were Filipino. Well, actually I am, anyway, as a “near-Filipino”. Cool country, on the rise.

>Defends the Philippine’s President but is named “Joe America”
>Would rather defend through a guise rather than through his own persona, but claims to be proud of Presidents “work”
>Makes an article about defending the Presidents action and/or inaction by citing a flawed and impractical “its a really hard job you guyzzz you should walk in his shoes before you judgeee” argument.

Well, Digger, you are a sharp one. I think we should at least STRIVE to comprehend what others have to deal with. Rather than take our own ignorant view as the correct context for decisions. 8 seems okay. Had worse, I think.

Hi JoeAm, I was about to commend you on how well you engage the intelligent criticism & ignore the senseless ones, compared to several years ago, when I read some of your recent comments lol. If there’s some modicum of sense, then by all means try to engage that. But otherwise, you’ll just be expending effort that’s best exerted elsewhere, for nation building’s sake. These hopelessly senseless critics contribute nothing whatsoever to nation building, so just let them waste their own time. A canned warning that subsequent similar posts may be deleted would be enough 🙂 More power!

Hi, Reggie, yes, I just did what you suggested in this thread. It has not been a problem until now. With the popularity of the blog and the political players, we have people dropping by to shout their opinions, and it is out of character with what I’d like to aim for. I think I’ll just start writing really shitty blogs and end the problem.

Spot on, Joe. These are the elements of our society which give politics a bad name. When the going gets good, they ride on with it but when it gets rough they scream foul. Change the government! Replace the cabinet! Impeach the president! Oust the president! As if. They think politics is holding only the elected officials accountable. Truth is, both the electors and elected are to be held accountable. The only difference is that for the electors, they have to witness what has become of their elected who, in the first place, is the product of their decision during the election day. That is the electors’ accountability. Then suddenly, they would say oust or let the president resign? That is not accountability but escapism. How amusing that the same elements can be likened to a water that is neither cold nor warm. What could happen to a lukewarm water? It gets to be vomited for being tasteless. How fitting a description – tasteless! Ooops!

By the way, great article Joe. Finally, I see a blogger of the tall order.

Well said Sir Joe and ur right for me Pres.Pnoy is just a human being he’s not perfect but at least he’s the only President in the Philippines that sends three senators in jail and a past President that means this guy is a man of principle and has the guts and courage

I really don’t know how to respond to this article. Its nice that some people are still hopeful despite everything that has happened under this administration. But then its kinda sad people are still turning a blind eye to what this government has become under his leadership.

First of all, I like your thesis… “There is no perfect president/leader.” And it’s true. However you contradicted yourself when you mentioned the Yolanda/Tacloban mayor incident. He too is another imperfect leader. But why are you quick to assume that the Mayor is game-playing and won’t admit incompetence? Why does Aquino get a pass while he doesn’t. I’ll just focus on this point for this post.

I have friends who work for the Tacloban government, who was there in the aftermath of typhoon Yolanda. They shared to me how difficult it was especially with the slow support from the national government. Let us remember, Roxas tweeted the day before that everything that could’ve been done has already been done in preparation for the typhoon. That includes Tacloban. But the typhoon is just too great that whatever preparations they did was not enough. And then the Aquino was quick to blame the local government with its failure. They were slow to aid because of petty reasons (You could check the leaked video). They told me that they have a lot evidence how the national government neglected them, however if they will continue to antagonize Aquino its their constituents that will suffer. So silently they made a deal not to leak any of it and they will have no problems with the aid. This is why the issue died quickly.

My point is, it was Aquino who drew the first blood, blaming the local government for lack of preparations (despite Roxas saying they are fully prepared). Then Romualdez spoke in his defense and pleading for faster support from the national. Aquino criticized Romualdez of politicking in the middle of the tragedy. But then Tacloban released a video to debunk Aquino’s claims instead showing that it was the national government who was politicking.

I have a lot of things to say about how Aquino mishandled Yolanda. Even things a common citizen like me knows what a leader shouldn’t do. But no, Aquino gets a pass for this one and the local government doesn’t. He never assumed responsibility with that one.

The danger of this administration is not that Aquino is corrupt or greedy. I do believe that he is sincere and has good intentions. The danger is that he is not strong enough to stop the corruption going on around him, especially to those people who are close to him. Did he investigate Abad? Did he sack Purisima? And what of those allies who are included in the Napoles scandal? Where is that promised second batch of list that will implicate them? It’s been more than a year now, don’t tell me that they are still verifying it but they are quick to implicate opposition senators.

At least during GMA and Erap’s time you know that their administration is corrupt. Aquino’s administration poses as if it has moral ascendency to lead but is as corrupt as the other two. And that is what saddens me.

I appreciate your fine rebuttal, and will moderate my view on Tacloban accordingly. I would, however, like someone to point me to a reference source as to where Mayor Romualdez accepts accountability. I’ve not seen it. I’ve seen lots of finger pointing. The law makes local government responsible for preparation (zoning, evacuations). I find it astounding that a low-lying city like Tacloban had no idea about storm surge. Everyone knew a huge storm was approaching. There is water water everywhere around the city. Reports here were that people were taken from the hills to an evacuation center right by the ocean. Who claims accountability for that?

Yes Romualdez shouldv’e also claimed responsibility. I don’t think there’s any write ups of Romualdez accepting responsibility because most of his interviews were responses to Aquino’s accusations against the local government.

I’ve been told that they’ve evacuated Tacloban according to their evacuation plan in an event of a storm surge. However the typhoon was much stronger than expected that is why their evacuation failed. Also my understanding is that people from surrounding towns evacuated to Tacloban because there are no structure strong enough outside Tacloban to serve as shelter for a storm as strong as Yolanda.

The mayor has his faults but I understand where he is coming from. The day before, the presidents’ representatives were in Tacloban to inspect the preparations and said everything is good then a day after the storm hit, the national government was quick to blame the local. Understandably, the mayor was frustrated that the need was too great especially being surrounded by too much death.

The main man for about a year was Lacson. By the end of the year, he had had it with Romualdez. Big ego, non-cooperative, ever critical and complaining. It was not just an Aquino problem. Other mayors in the Visayas were praising Lacson and National’s efforts. Tacloban was still complaining.

The reason I tend to believe Romualdez is because my friends in Tacloban who are very rational people and those whom I regard with integrity share the same sentiments with Romualdez. If Romualdez was not doing his job they are the first ones I would hear who will criticize the local government.

You have to understand that Tacloban is one of the hub of the region that was hit the hardest so their needs was unique from everyone else. Added the fact that they’ve been targeted by the ire of Aquino since the beginning because of petty reasons. Mar Roxas was caught in a lie when the leaked video surfaced but still the national gov’t got away with it.

The issue is that the funds they are claiming that went to Tacloban didn’t reach Tacloban. Have you seen the housing projects by the national gov’t in Tacloban? Compare their quality with other NGO’s housing project and you would wonder where all the supposed budget for that project went.

I know Tacloban, as I live in Biliran province and it is my “big city”. I hardly think having your father shot on the tarmac is a petty reason to have dislike for the Marcos/Romualdez clan. I suspect, however, if someone were to draw a line halfway between your view and mine, they would be the most accurate of the three of us.

I understand, however as a leader of the country, he should be above that. He calls peace for Mindanao yet he is unable to make peace with his political enemies.

I don’t like the Marcoses because of what they did during martial law, however I’m not fully convinced that they are responsible for the death of Ninoy. Actually, Aquino’s uncle is one of the suspected master mind of the plot based on the confession of Pablo Martinez. But that’s another debate for another topic

Paul, the way I see it from outside tacloban is that the mayor does not want to follow order from the president. His pride got in the way of the safety of his constituents. How do you explain his decision to stay at his beachfront house when the president and pag asa was telling everybody to evacuate? It’s his pride..

I understand how it could’ve looked that way but I can tell you in full confidence that that is not the case. If what you are saying is true, he would’t have compromised with the national government not to release other damaging evidences how the national are slow to aid Tacloban. This was not in the news. The deal was, shut up and we will give you your aid. Remember, they easily debunked Roxas statements with the leaked video, and there are others.

The reality is, everybody, including the president or the DILG and Tacloban LGU underestimated how strong Yonlanda is. They prepared the best they can, its just that Yolanda is that strong. So it is unfair that Noynoy will blame the LGU and absolve the national.

Also know this, the death toll is way higher than the official count (6,340). Those who cannot be identified were not counted in the official tally and it also did not include the those who were buried the first two days.

The president fired PNP director Soria for estimating the death toll could be as many as 10,000 compared to the president’s estimate 2.500. They stopped counting when it is apparent the it could reach more than 8,000+ despite still retrieving bodies.

WHY? You connect the dots. It will prove that the president was downplaying Yolanda to the international media. Also it would show that the president fired Soria for being right all along.